Sea Bass Baked in Salt Crust

Instead of baking and serving one small fish per person, you can bake one large fish and then fillet it. Bear in mind that the ratio of salt and fish should be 2:1. For every 1kg of salt, use approximately 100ml water. If baking a larger fish, make sure you adjust the baking time. The rule of thumb is 10 minutes for every 2.5cm (1 inch) of thickness at the fish’s widest part.

Category: Fish & seafood

Recipe in PDF format (print friendly)

• Serves 2
• Prep time: 5min
• Cook time: 15min
• Total time: 20min
• Difficulty: Basic

Ingredients

• 2 whole sea bass (250g each), gutted and scaled
• 2 lemon slices
• 2 rosemary springs
• 1 - 1.2 kg coarse sea salt
• 100 - 120ml water

Directions

Dry the fish with kitchen paper and stuff the body cavity of each fish with one lemon slice and rosemary sprig. Combine salt and water and mix thoroughly. This will help to form a crust. Place a layer of wet sea salt (about 1/3) in the bottom of a roasting tin large enough to hold the fish comfortably. Lay the fish on top of the salt, then cover with the remaining sea salt. The fish should be completely enclosed by the salt. You can wrap each fish separately in its own crust or lay them next to each other and cover them together. Place the roasting pan in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and let the fish rest for 5 minutes. Break the salt crust with a knife. Using a pastry brush, remove the salt crystals from the surface of the fish and from around the fish. Serve with lemon wedges.

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