Whole Salt Baked Sea Bass

Now I’m no fan of fish. I mean, I’ll order it every now and again, and maybe cook it once every two months, but I’m definitely not the person to talk to about preparing it – or cooking it WELL. Until now.

Now that I have found this recipe, and successfully completed it, I believe I will be championing this dish to anyone who will listen!

Now, that’s not saying it’s now my favourite dish. But it is definitely my favourite FISH dish. I freestyled on a few dishes I’d seen Rick Stein cook, as well as some I’d read on Epicurious. Don’t worry about the huge amount of salt, you hardly eat any of it, it just provides a layer of insulation between the flesh of the fish and the heat of the oven.

5 points to consider.

1. Try it. Try it NOW.

2. It isn’t hard.

3. It’s EASY.

4. Leave the head and tail on.

5. See point number 1.

We bought a whole fish, from the Hamburg Fischmarkt – a Sea Bass, but you can use any sort of white fleshed, (not flat) fish. There is no need to scale the fish, as you won’t be eating the skin. But make sure the guts and so on aren’t included (I had to clean ours myself, not the most appetising job in the world).

Salt Baked Sea Bass

1 Whole Sea Bass (about 500g), cleaned with head and tail intact.

3 Cups Sea Salt

Olive Oil

10 Cherry Tomatoes on the vine

6 Bay Leaves

1 Lemon

2 Cloves of Garlic

Good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil (for serving)

Slice half the lemon in 1cm slices. Crush garlic into a paste, either with the flat of your knife on a board, or in a mortar and pestle. Into the cavity of your fish, sprinkle a little sea salt, lay out half your lemon slices and garlic paste. Season with a little black pepper. Sprinkle 1/3 of your Sea Salt into a tray a little bigger than your fish, lay 3 bay leaves and 2-3 lemon slices on top. Then lay your fish on the salt, and drizzle with a little olive oil. Lay 3 Bay leaves on the top of the fish and cover with the rest of the sea salt. If excess salt falls off the side of the fish, just shore it up to the edges of the fish, but make sure the top-side of the fish has a nice thick layer on it.

Put fish into a preheated oven at 200c for 25 minutes, putting the tomatoes in next to it, in the last 15. After the 25 minutes is up, the fish will be cooked (don’t be scared). Take out of the oven, and with  a small knife, chip off the salt and peel back the skin. Carefully cut the fillet from the top side of the fish (don’t worry I thought this would be hard too, but it really isn’t). Flip the fish and take the fillet from the other side. If you miss a bit trying to lift the fillet out, just collect as much of the meat as you can for the plate, ok it’s not as pretty but you won’t want to waste ANY of this amazing flavour.

Serve with the tomatoes, and potatoes – we had mash, but baked would have been amazing. Drizzle with good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil and the rest of the lemon.

Serves 2.

What’s left is simple, clean flavours of lemon, bay, garlic and a hint of salt. All subtle enough not to overpower the fish, but strong enough to give boost to what is sometimes the most tasteless part of a restaurant menu. You will not believe it until you eat it, and I suggest you do so AQAYBC. Yes, that means as-quick-as-you-bloody-can.