Salt-baked sea bass

Name: Salt-baked sea bass
Yield: Serves 4-6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 kg coarse sea salt, plus extra for layering; 4-5 tbsp chopped dill or fennel tops, plus extra to serve; 1 x 2.5 kg sea bass, scaled, gutted and left whole or boned (see recipe intro); 240 ml water; A little olive oil or melted butter to serve; Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation info

Serves
4-6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Mark Hix on Baking

By Mark Hix

Published 2012

About

This is a simple, delicious and unusual way to cook firm-textured fish like bass, sea bream or snapper. It seals and cooks the fish without any juices or flavours escaping and makes an impressive dish to show oil to your dinner party guests.

Ingredients

1 x 2.5 kg sea bass, scaled, gutted and left whole or boned (see recipe intro)
240 ml water

Americas
United States
Dinner
Fish course
Pescatarian
New Orleans
Gluten-free

Method

An hour before you want to cook the fish, add the water to the salt and mix well in a bowl. Set aside. Spread an additional thin layer of salt on a baking tray or oven-proof serving dish.

Preheat the oven to 250°C/gas mark 9.

Fill the stomach of the fish with the dill o