I make whole fish for dinner normally once a week. A few weeks ago we went fishing and got a bunch of wonderful trout. I wanted to do something new and decided to try a salt bake. It worked out great!
Ingredients:
1 3 lbs whole trout or branzino (tail and head one, no scales and insides removed)
1 lime (zest and juice separate)
1/2 bunch cilantro + 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tbs olive oil
2 tsp pepper
2 cup sea salt
2 cup fine sea salt
1 egg
Water
Rinse and pat dry the fish well. Place the fish on a large baking sheet lined with wax paper. Coat the fish with half the lime juice, olive oil and pepper. Stuff the fish with the half bunch of cilantro into the cavity of the fish. Now, in a separate bowl mix together all the salt, chopped cilantro, egg and lime zest. Then add small bits of water at time while continuing to mix. Your looking for a wet sand consistence. Place a 1/2 inch layer of salt under the fish. Pour the rest of the salt on top leaving the tail and head out. Bake the whole thing for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Once cooked, meat will fall off the bones making it easy to serve.