Salt-baked Fish Recipe
Salt-baked fish is one of our go-to recipes for entertaining family and friends, because it’s impressive and tasty, yet easy to prepare.
This recipe works because the salt crust has a very high heat capacity, and is a good insulator. The salt crust adsorbs the heat from the oven/air fryer and releases the heat to the fish slowly and gently, producing a very tender and moist fish (even if the fish isn’t fatty) that is neither too wet nor too dry. The salt crust also helps trap all the aromas released from the herbs and other flavourings, perfuming your fish nicely.
The egg white mixture, when mixed into the salt, helps create a salt-crust that rises (for better insulation), browns (so you know when it’s done) and holds the salt together better (so the crust cracks open more easily when served).
The salt-baked fish after the crust is cracked open.
And, for showmanship, when the fish is done, you can crack it open in front of your guests with aplomb, to reveal a beautifully baked fish.
The dish is “scalable”, so you can use a bigger fish for more guests and a smaller fish if fewer people are eating it (as long as the fish fits in your oven/air fryer).
The only kitchen equipment you’ll need are a whisk (electric is preferred, though not necessary) and an oven or air fryer (we used an air fryer because we don’t have an oven).
The lemon and dill perfume the fish.
Recipe for salt-baked fish
Ingredients
1 Seabass, scaled, cleaned and gutted (you can use any whole fish with white meat, or salmon, of any size. Our seabass was about 600g in weight, you can scale the rest of the ingredients according to the size of the fish)
1 lemon, sliced
Whites from 2 eggs
about 5 sprigs of dill
500g table salt (for the salt crust)
Salt (for seasoning the fish)
Pepper
Garlic powder
The salt-baked fish before it’s baked.
Directions
If you’re using a convection oven instead of an air fryer, preheat the oven to 200°C.
Whisk the whites from the 2 eggs in a large mixing bowl until you achieve “stiff peaks” (where the egg whites turn opaque, and can hold their own shape).
Pour table salt into egg white mixture, and gently fold the salt and egg whites together until you get a texture like wet sand. If the salt feels too dry, you can add a little bit of water (too much water will prevent the salt crush from hardening when baked).
Take one third of your salt mixture, and lay a thin, flat layer onto aluminium foil or baking paper. This salt layer should be about the breadth of your fish and length of the body of your fish (excluding the head and tail).
Place one third of your lemon slices and 1 sprig of dill on the salt layer.
Take the fish out of the fridge. Lay your fish on the lemon slices and herbs. Season the belly of the fish with salt, pepper and garlic powder (you’ll need to season the fish with salt because the salt from the crust does not season the fish and is not meant to be eaten).
Insert one third of your lemon slices and 3 sprigs of dill into the belly of the fish.
Place the remainder of your lemon slices and sprigs of dill on top of the fish. You’ll want to arrange it in an aesthetically pleasing manner, as this is what you’ll see when the salt crust is cracked open.
Cover the rest of the body of the fish with the remaining two thirds of your salt mixture.
Gently place the salt encrusted fish into your convection oven or air fryer, and turn it on 200°C. You’ll want to leave the heat on for 10 minutes in an air fryer, or 15 minutes in the oven.
After this time, your salt crust would have turned brown and hard.
The internal temperature of your fish will reach about 45-50°C (which isn’t cooked all the way through yet). Because the salt crust stores so much heat, it will continue to gently cook the fish. Leave the fish in the oven/air fryer for another 20 minutes (or up to 30 minutes, if you like your fish cooked a little dryer).
After 20 minutes, your fish would have reached an internal temperature of about 65°C. You’re ready to serve the fish! Crack it open with your utensil of choice (we used a wooden spatula) and enjoy!
The skin of the fish might or might not peel off together with the salt crust. You’ll want to peel off the skin (it’s easy) and enjoy the fish!
Taste palette
The insulation from the salt crust causes the fish to stay moist and juicy.
If the fish you used was fresh, the dish won’t be fishy at all. You’ll have a lovely pairing of the flavours of the sea with dill (always goes well together), together with a hint of acidity and fragrance from the lemon. Garlic powder doesn’t taste exactly like fresh, crushed garlic (which you could use in lieu of the garlic powder), but adds a depth of umami to the dish. Because of the salt-crust, the fish will be tender and juicy. Enjoy!