by TasteFood
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by MelanieEinzig
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by JadeAyes
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by JadeAyes
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by JadeAyes
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by TasteFood
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1
whole fish, approx. 5 lbs., such as snapper or sea bass
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1
lemon, thinly sliced
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1
small bunch parsley sprigs
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Fennel fronds from one bulb, halved lengthwise
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4 pounds
coarse sea salt
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2
egg whites
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Extra-virgin olive oil
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Preheat oven to 450 F.
Ask the hotline about this step!Place lemon slices, parsley and fennel in cavity of the fish. Do not overstuff.
Ask the hotline about this step!Combine egg whites and sea salt in a bowl. Mix well to moisten salt.
Ask the hotline about this step!Spread 1/3 salt on bottom of large baking dish or pan. Lay fish on top. Pour remaining salt over fish, covering completely. If needed, tail can be exposed.
Ask the hotline about this step!Bake in oven 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes.
Ask the hotline about this step!Crack open crust with small hammer or knife. Remove and discard crust. Fillet fish.
Ask the hotline about this step!Arrange fish on warm plates. Drizzle with olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice from wedges. Serve with Parsley Gremolata.
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1/2 cup
finely chopped parsley
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1
garlic clove, minced
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Finely grated zest from one untreated lemon
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Pinch sea salt
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Freshly ground black pepper
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Combine parsley, garlic and lemon zest in a small bowl. Season to taste with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Ask the hotline about this step!When I lived in Sardinia and had something similar at one of the local restaurants the chef came out to the table grabbed the tail and just pushed on the meat near the end of the tail fin and the whole thing just fell off. He did the same with the other side leaving all the bones and the head and tail.
This was terrific. I used small trout and lessened the cooking time to about 25 minutes--they came out more tender than any fish I've ever cooked, and absolutely delicious. I prepared the Parsley Gremolata but the fish was so good on its own we barely used any!
Oh, and the presentation was great. Blew my foodie boyfriend away. Thanks for a great dinner date idea.
Is there a video on this? I have failed twice and I know it is something in my own technique because others are having such good luck with it.
MariaRaynal, La452 and I made this last night and it was SO good, and FUN! Cracking open the salt to get the fish out is AWESOME! Great recipe ...
I made this last night for a dinner party, and it totally blew my guests out of the water. The look on their faces as I took a hammer and hacked away at the top crust was priceless. Midway through the meal, we all looked up at each other and laughed as we realized that we couldn't stop the moans of "mmm!" Thanks for bringing this dramatic dish within reach of the home cook.
Two notes: first, I made a 6.5-pound red snapper, which easily fed 6 with leftovers. I needed 6 pounds of salt to cover the fish, and the tip of the tail was still sticking out. Second, as delicious as the filets are, the cheeks are by far the best part -- don't miss it!
Congratulations! This is a terrific looking dish, I can't wait to try it myself. Bet the kids will love it too!
so pretty! congrats!
Lynda - a lovely recipe and well-deserved recognition!
I have always wanted to do a recipe like this...thanks for making it easy!
Congratulations, Lynda! I'm so excited for you!
Congratulations! I have this on my "try when there are people over for fun with food" list ... have been wanting to try this technique for awhile - and yours sounds great!
Thank you aargersi! I still have my cedar plank that I plan to use for your recipe - once the rains stop!
This recipe calls for a 4-5 lb. fish. So long as you have a baking tray (a rimmed cookie sheet will do) that will fit the fish, there should be no problem with its size. Once the fish is filleted it will feed 6 people. If you have a crowd, you will need to do more than one fish, which is doable so long as you have sufficient oven space. It will certainly be a party showstopper when you crack open the salt crust!
I've only done this once and I suspect that the vvery large fish I had (I think it was close to 4 pounds) was simply too large for this method. If you are serving this for a crowd, is it better to do multiple fish?
Aldo Sohm is the award-winning Chef Sommelier at Le Bernardin in NYC.
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Amanda empties 2 pounds of sea salt into a bowl.
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Egg whites moisten the salt, and the mixture becomes a thick, grainy paste.
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Amanda has fun custom designing the bed of salt for our red snapper.
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Before being laid to rest on his salt bed, the snapper is filled with parsley, lemon and fennel fronds.
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Now for the fun part: we take fistfuls of salt and pat them all over the snapper to create a thick, even coating.
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We tried to be courteous, leaving his eye uncovered until the very end.
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Amanda cheerfully dispatches him to the oven.
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While the fish bakes, we chop some garlic...
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and parsley for the gremolata, adding the zest of a lemon as well.
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Perhaps even more fun than coating the fish is breaking open and removing the hard crust once it's cooked.
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It's a two person job.
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I uploaded some pics. I tried it tonight with a 2lb snapper. It came out phenomenal. My only issue was filleting it. Any suggestions?