Preparing Fish in a Salt Crust – Recipes Ideas and Tips from Star Chefs
Author:
Thomas Sixt is a chef, food photographer, cookbook author and blogger.
Here he shares recipes, answers cooking questions and helps with cooking.
Here I show you my recipe fish in salt crust. The whole fish goes into the oven, this is a simple preparation, practical, with little effort and delicious.
Branzino al sale I had eaten with great pleasure in Italy, that was before Corona. So today I am adding to this preparation so that we can enjoy the fine Italian cuisine at home.
In the following article you will get a lot of tips and ideas from the star kitchen. I wish you good luck and would be happy if you would cook it. Share this article with your friends!
Table of Contents
1. Which Fish is Ideal for this Preparation?
Ideally you prepare this dish with a saltwater fish. You can put portioned fish up to 45 cm or a larger fish in the salt, but the fish should still fit on your baking tray.
Portioned fish can be wrapped with baking paper. This way you can easily put the fish on your plate later.
Sea bass (Branzino) is for me the best fish for the salt coat!
Recommended to you by cook Thomas Sixt
How can you recognize fresh fish:
Chef Thomas Sixt on fresh fish and its characteristics
1. The fish does not smell
2. Bright red gills
3. Undamaged and shiny scale dress
4. Clear eyes, exception perch-like fish always have cloudy eyes
Let’s take a look at the salt mantle next, I can already tell you, it’s really easy!
2. Prepare Salt Crust
I can still remember my cursing stepfather, he had packed a fish in “his salt crust” and in the end he had to recover the remains with hammer and chisel.
The biggest mistake in this preparation is the addition of water. Water and salt in combination with heat creates a very firm crust, which you can only open with Black & Decker.
To keep the hammer drill in the basement, I reveal the first secret: Please use only salt and protein for your coat.
Make salt coat with beaten egg white and salt, please do not add water!
Salt cooking tip from cook Thomas Sixt
3. Recipe Fish in Salt Crust
Made it this far? Wonderful, now it’s about to start and your fish will surely be put into the oven right away!
Fish in Salt Crust
Cooked, photographed and written down by chef Thomas Sixt.
Simple tutorial for the preparation of fish in a salt crust.
Ingredients
Fish | ||
2 | pc | sea bass |
1/2 | bunch | thyme |
1/2 | bunch | Rosemary |
1 | pc | Garlic clove |
Salt crust | ||
6 | pc | egg white |
1,5 | kg | coarse sea salt |
Serve | ||
1 | tbs | oliv oil |
4-6 | pinches | Pepper (I use black pepper) |
Instruction
Note for Side Dishes
Prepare Sides
I have not added the side dishes in this recipe.
Please take care of the side dishes first, as the cooking time is usually longer.
I had selected pumpkin from the oven and mushrooms fried in butter.
The recipes are linked in the article.
Preparing fish
Prepare fish
Scale the fish in the water, using a knife (back of the knife) against the direction of growth along the fish.
By diving under water the scales stay in the sink and do not fly through the whole kitchen.
You can leave the fish in the water for a short time until it is wrapped in the salt or store it temporarily.
Prepare salt mantle
Salt crust
Beat the cold egg whites, freshly separated from the egg yolk, in a clean and fat-free bowl with a hand mixer/ whisk until stiff.
Add salt
Add the coarse sea salt to the beaten egg white.
Mix salt
Mix the beaten egg white with the salt. Preheat oven at 220°C hot air.
Cover fish
Process
Put part of the salt crust on the baking tray.
If you would put the fish directly on the baking tray, the fish would be cooked too fast.
You can put baking paper under the salt bed, so that you can clean the baking tray easier later.
Brush the dry spotted fish with olive oil, fill the abdomen with herbs and garlic, put the fish into the salt bed.
Pack fish
Spread the rest of the salt mixture evenly over the fish and seal it.
Place the baking tray in the middle of the oven and cook for 25-35 minutes.
—> Recommended temperature 200°C
Fish ready
Remove the baking tray from the oven.
When is the fish ready?
–> Open the salt coat on the head and check the eyes of the fish.
–> If the eyes are all white, the fish is cooked.
–> Warm up the side dishes and the plates.
Season and arrange the side dishes.
Remove salt
Carefully remove the salt coat on the upper side of the fish.
Remove skin
Carefully remove the skin from the fish.
Arrange fillet
Remove the upper fish fillet and arrange, then remove the bones and remove the lower fillet.
Serve
Serve the fish as a side dish, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with pepper.
Bon appetite!
Note on cooking time – when is the fish ready?
As a guideline: oven temperature 200°C, a sea bass weight 700g needs about 25-30 minutes.
Depending on the oven, it may take a little longer, the thicker the salt crust, the longer the fish needs.
Courses
Cousine
Keyword
4. Calories and Nutritional Values
5. Side Dishes for Fish in Salt Crust
Since we almost have the sea creature in the oven and I have already worked my way through the recipe section below step by step, I would like to introduce you to some suitable side dishes. My “Favoriti” are marked with a star…
5.1 Vegetable side dishes
- Spinach *
- Ratatouille *
- Oven vegetables *
- Mushrooms fried in butter *
- Butter beans
- Pea vegetables
- Pumpkin from the oven *
- Cream spinach
- Cauliflower *
5.2 Saturation supplements
- White bread and olive oil *
- Baked potatoes with thyme or rosemary *
- Polenta *
- Mashed Potatoes
- Boiled potatoes
- Saffron risotto
- Mushroom Risotto
- Porcini Risotto
I tend to the Mediterranean classics when it comes to side dishes with this fish, so in the case of saltwater fish. I would also like to combine trout in a salt coat with mashed potatoes and peas.
Pumpkin and baked potatoes are practical side dishes. You can cook them with the fish in the oven!
Tip for easy cooking from chef Thomas Sixt
6. More Recipes for Fish and Seafood
Fish and Chips New Experience: Recipe From Chef Thomas Sixt
Crayfish
Lobster
Grill Shrimp
Potato Pancakes With Salmon
Fish Sticks Recipe
German Fish Sandwich Recipe “Bremer”
Cataplana Recipe from the EsquiNa Restaurant in Burgau, Portugal
Salmon Smoking Made Simple, Recipe for an Exciting Taste Experience
Prepare Sashimi Yourself
Preparing Paella Pan in a successful Way
Spaghetti with Pulpo, cooked quickly
Comments, Cooking Questions and Answers
Below you can write to me directly.
Please don’t forget the star rating on the recipe, 5 stars means you liked it!