Fish in a salt crust – 2 ingredients

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I don’t basically cook, but it’s snowing outside and nothing is really open. My sister was persuading me for a long time to cook something. The decision was the fish in a salt crust. Lunch was healthy and delicious. The meat actually retained its own juices and was not oversalted. Although served in fine fish restaurants it is a very easy recipe. You only need two ingredients:

  • fish
  • salt

The process is also simple:

  • coat the fish with salt
  • bake the fish
  • get the fish out of the salt and skin

Well, let’s explain the individual items in more detail

Table of Contents

Fish

Fish in a salt crust - 2 ingredients 1
sea bass - brancin 1.5 kg
sea bass 1.5 kg

Usually, it is white fish, mostly sea bass or gilthead sea bream. However, it is also possible to use freshwater fish, such as trout. Since I failed to get one big fish I took four 350 gram sea bass. In addition to the price and quality of larger fish, it is necessary to keep larger fish longer in the oven. In the fish market, you should explain that you will make fish in salt crust and they will leave scales on fish. At home, wash and dry the fish.

Salt

Fish in a salt crust - 2 ingredients 2

Coarse sea salt is used. Some add a portion of fine sea salt. You usually consume about 2 kg of salt. Since I had to coat 4 pieces I used 2.5 kg.

Preparation

Fish in a salt crust - 2 ingredients 3

Place a sheet of baking paper on the bottom of the baking tray so that the salt does not stick to the baking tray. To make the salt easier to spread, 1-2 dl of water can be added and mixed to obtain a snow-like mass. Some people add egg-white to the salt, but to me, this is an unnecessary step. We spread salt on paper at a height of 1 centimeter. Place the cleaned, washed, and dried fish on salt.

Fish in a salt crust - 2 ingredients 4

Some put rosemary and lemon slices in the abdominal cavity. I wanted to keep the natural flavor and didn’t add anything. Carefully close the empty or filled cavity so that salt does not penetrate inside, as the meat will be oversalted. Then cover the fish with 1 cm of salt on all sides.

Fish in a salt crust - 2 ingredients 5

Baking

I put the baking tray in the oven at 180 degrees celsius for 45 minutes. The size of the fish is important for the baking time, 1.5 kg fish we baked for 1.5 hours. Some also put on a higher temperature for a shorter time, up to 220 degrees. Everyone has to find the right ratio between the size of the fish, the temperature in the oven, and the time needed. If it is in the oven for too long it will dry out the fish and if it is taken out too soon it will be undercooked.

Serving

Fish in a salt crust - 2 ingredients 6

Once you take the pan out of the oven, it is now necessary to get to the fish meat. The salt crust should be fairly hard by now. So you need a cooking hammer or a knife handle to break that crust. The next step is to remove the skin of the fish with excess salt. You can sprinkle fish fillet with olive oil, I had potatoes with chard as a side dish. You can serve it with potatoes, roasted vegetables …

Fish in a salt crust - 2 ingredients 7

So I suggest that you all try to make fish in salt crust at least once because if I succeeded and I don’t cook, anyone can succeed.

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