Dinner Tonight: Salt-Baked 'Pesce per Due'
The thought of cooking a whole fish can be very intimidating—just as it's easier to sear a chicken breast in a pan rather than roast a bird whole, we're all more familiar with that convenient fish fillet that's easy to control and cook gently in a skillet. Putting a whole fish in an oven and trusting that it won't come out terribly over or under cooked takes immense faith.
The salt crust method—which is used not for seasoning but to create a hardened shell around the fish to seal in juices—is a dramatic and forgiving way to bake the fish. The salt will conveniently let you know when the fish is done by becoming completely hardened and golden, and the fish will come out tender and remarkably juicy. With no added oil, it's also healthy and light.
About the author: Blake Royer lives in Brooklyn and spends most of his free time cooking and writing about it here at Serious Eats and on The Paupered Chef. From 9 to 5 weekdays, he works as an assistant book editor in Manhattan.
Salt-Baked Pesce per Due
- serves 2 -
Adapted from The Young Man and the Sea by David Pasternack, Ed Levine, Christopher Hirsheimer.
Ingredients
1 whole fish for 2, such as branzino, red snapper, trout, scaled, gutted, and cleaned
3 1/2 cups salt
3 egg whites
4 sprigs parsley
2 sprigs rosemary
4 olives
1 clove garlic
2 slices of lemon
Procedure
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 3 cups of the salt and the egg whites. It will be the consistency of wet sand. Spread the remaining 1/2 cup of salt in the bottom of a roasting pan.
3. Trace an outline of parchment paper around the fish and place the paper and fish on top of the salt in the pan. Stuff the fish's cavity with the remaining ingredients.
4. Carefully pack the fish in with the salt mixture until it is completely covered and snug. Transfer to the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes, or until the crust is hardened and golden (it must be hardened, or else it won't come away from the fish).
5. Crack the salt crust using a wooden spoon of the handle of a knife. Lift the crust away and lift the fillets onto plates.
View other entries from Dinner Tonight.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
8 Comments:
I've been meaning to try this and think I finally will! Thanks for the encouragement!
ellis at 9:09PM on 07/08/08
what's the best way to communicate "scaled, gutted, and cleaned" to the person behind the counter? do i just say that? is there a word or phrase that means all those things but will make me sound like I've asked for it before?
this sounds really awesome, dying to try it!
z911empire at 9:52AM on 07/09/08
Does the parchment go all the way around the fish? Thanks!
PhredYammers at 12:09PM on 07/09/08
z911empire: Your fish person should know what that means. The fish on display will almost certainly already be scaled, so just make sure they clean out the stomach cavity and remove the gills, but leave the head on. Give the fish a good rinse at home and dry it well.
PhredYammers: Put the fish on a piece of parchment paper, then cut the parchment paper in an outline around it (so you'll have a vaguely fish-shaped piece of parchment paper). This is just a little bed for the fish to sit on while baking; the sides and top should be packed in with the salt/egg white mixture.
Blake Royer at 3:03PM on 07/09/08
I am absolutely trying this! I once did a salt crusted pineapple that was out of this world. Any particular kind of salt you used?
gastronomeg at 12:35PM on 07/11/08
I'm making this tonight, and picked up a beautiful red snapper today. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
mrsbao at 2:26PM on 07/12/08
gastronomeg: I used kosher salt -- nothing fancy necessary since it's not used for seasoning and will be discarded when you're done. Good luck!
Blake Royer at 12:37AM on 07/14/08
finally tried it.
2 1lb red snappers.
incredible.
z911empire at 8:22PM on 10/23/08