Sea Bass in a Salt Crust From Île de Ré
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2pounds (about 4 cups) coarse gray sea salt or other coarse sea salt
- 3ounces (about ⅓ cup) fine salt
- 17ounces (about 3 and ¼ cups) flour
- 1tablespoon thyme flowers or finely chopped thyme
- 1small stem (about ¼ cup) finely chopped fennel
- 5large egg whites, more as needed
- 3and ½ ounces (about ½ packed cup) julienned vegetables (such as carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, fennel, leeks)
- 1whole sea bass, about 1 and ¾ pounds (or other firm-fleshed fish, such as red snapper), gutted and scaled
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together coarse salt, fine salt, flour, thyme and fennel. Add egg whites and mix for 2 to 3 minutes to make a flexible and firm dough; if dough is too dry, add more egg whites one at a time as needed.
- Step 2
Roll dough out on parchment paper to a thickness of about ½ inch. Put vegetables in the cavity of the fish, and place fish in the center of the dough. Wrap fish entirely with dough, using the edges of the parchment to help lift the dough over the fish. Transfer parchment with encased fish to a shallow baking pan, and tear off excess parchment from around the fish.
- Step 3
Bake for 25 minutes. Cut open and remove salt crust from fish. Remove the skin of the fish. Discard crust and skin, fillet the fish and, if desired, serve with a beurre blanc sauce.
Private Notes
Comments
I made this with a vermillion snapper for Christmas a few years ago. It was lovely. I stuffed it with lemon and fennel and served it with sauteed chard with bacon.
When I make this dish, I never use flour and most of the time no egg white. If you are using salt from France ( Brittany salt from Guerande is best) it is slightly humid. When you cover the fish neatly and thickly with the salt, it will dry out while it bakes, and makes a beautiful crust. Do not add flour please, and maybe only 1egg white or 2 if your kosher salt is very dry. It is SO easy to make, and when you crack the crust to serve the fish, there will be many gasps and oohs of admiration…
When I make this dish, I never use flour and most of the time no egg white. If you are using salt from France ( Brittany salt from Guerande is best) it is slightly humid. When you cover the fish neatly and thickly with the salt, it will dry out while it bakes, and makes a beautiful crust. Do not add flour please, and maybe only 1egg white or 2 if your kosher salt is very dry. It is SO easy to make, and when you crack the crust to serve the fish, there will be many gasps and oohs of admiration…
I made this with a vermillion snapper for Christmas a few years ago. It was lovely. I stuffed it with lemon and fennel and served it with sauteed chard with bacon.