# Salt crust rockfish



## sand flea (Oct 24, 1999)

Pack a fish in salt? Are you nuts? That'll ruin it! 

Believe it or not, salt-crusting a dish doesn't ruin it. It makes a perfect little sauna where the fish can steam and constantly recirculate the moisture and flavors. 

You can enjoy this recipe as is with a few vegetables or you can make up the salsa described below and put the whole thing on a bed of pasta (I like angel hair for this). 

Ingredients


--18-24 inch striped bass (or any other firm, white fleshed fish like puppy drum), gutted and gilled 

--At least two boxes of coarse kosher salt (around seven pounds). Don't use iodized table salt. 

--Fresh aromatic herbs like fennel, cilantro, thyme, etc. Just pick two or three of your favorite herbs. 

--Several citrus 

--Two eggs 

Directions
In a large mixing bowl, add two egg whites (not the yolks) and a little bit of water. Mix in enough salt to lay down a 3/4"-1" bed of salt and cover the fish with 1/2"-1" mound of salt. Add enough water so that the salt clumps like wet spring snow, but is not soggy. Mix well. 

Lay down a bed of the salt on a baking sheet to a depth of 3/4"-1". Take the whole fish and lay it on the bed. Open the gut cavity and stuff with the fresh herbs you've selected and several slices of citrus. Take the remaining salt and cover the entire fish with a layer that's 1/2"-1" deep. Make sure the entire fish is covered and packed in. You can remove the tail if you like. 

Place the baking sheet in an oven preheated to 450 degrees. Leave for one hour or until an instant read thermometer at the center of the fish reads 130-135 degrees. 

When it's finished, take it out and let it cool for five or ten minutes. Take a mallet or hammer and crack the salt crust, which will have hardened into a rock-like shell. Remove the top part of the crust and brush the salt away. Peel off the skin, then scoop out the cooked flesh from inside. Discard the salt shell, bones and skin. 

Salsa recipe


2 cups olive oil 
1 cup chopped parsley leaves 
1/2 cup chopped garlic 
1/2 cup fresh cilantro 
Zest of two lemons 
Kosher salt, cracked pepper to taste 
You can play with the salsa ingredients. For instance, some substitute oregano for the cilantro or add some of the lemon juice to the mix. Play around with it a little to get it how you like it. 

Place big hunks of the fish on a bed of angel hair pasta, and dump salsa over top. Trust me: this will be one of the best meals you've ever had.


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