Salt baked fish

This is my home cooked salt baked fish. A couple of weeks ago, I tasted this tender and succulent salt baked salmon in this restaurant, and I was absolutely impressed with how tender and succulent the salmon was so I decided to prepare this at home. I used a different fish though.

Ingredients:

1. A whole fish. I bought a 550 gram siakap (barramundi) from a hypermarket for RM4.95. Scaled and gutted too on the spot.
2. Coarse salt. I used about 1 KG of it (3 x 350 gram).
3. 4 tbsp of water (add it to the salt and mix well)

Oven: 200 deg C for 20 minutes. My oven is the bowl type Halogen Convection Oven

A 550g siakap, gutted and scaled.


You don't have to use foil here. I used it only because I do not have a baking tray. Make sure you put a layer of salt on the tray before laying the fish on it, then cover the whole fish with salt.

Check the youtube clips I embedded below. Some prefer to leave the head and tail uncovered.

200 deg C for 20 minutes. This is what it looks like after 20 minutes.

Use a pastry brush to get rid of as much salt as possible from the fish.

This is my fish with all the salt crust removed.


Remove the skin.


Slightly overbaked in this case but still very tender and succulent. I think I will reduce the baking time to maybe 17 minutes.


Check out the following clips and you'll notice some of them prefer to use salt and eggwhite and/or flour to form the crust. Some even add spices/herbs to the salt & eggwhite mix.

Roast Pork recipe by Mity Visionz

This is my facebook buddy Mity Visionz's roast pork recipe. Thanks Mity. He is a member of a few Facebook food groups. You can find him here, here and here.

In his own words:
#1

I first came across this convection oven in the early 90s in some TV commercials and just left it as it is as just another gimmicky gadget. It wasn't until 2003 during one of my visits to my friend's home and he did a pork roast for dinner and I was amazed with the results. Immediately after, I bought, it lasted till today and I'm still having lots of fun. You can also use it for baking, cooking, frying with excellent results.

#2


Shows the temperature settings/method of cooking... from THAW, WASH, WARM, REHEAT, BAKE, ROAST, FRY AND GRILL AND A 60 minute timer.

#3


#4

Picture3 and 4. Shows the type of cut for your pork roast... pork shoulder, belly, leg shank or knuckle are all suitable for roasting. Fresh pork is best, and if it is frozen, make sure it thaws out well before roasting.

#5

Picture 5. I used just your normal table salt for roasting. After all, it is going to be thrown out when the roasting is done. You can use whatever salt you fancy.

#6


#7

Picture 6 and 7. Once you have cleaned and paper towel dry your pork cut, place it in the oven skin side upwards and sprinkle heaps of table salt all over the skin and start roasting. Picture 7 gives you an idea of the amount of salt needed just before roasting.

#8

Picture 8. Start your engine... not quite as in this case, set your timer to max and setting to GRILL/250 degrees C and switch on and let the fun begins.... from here, it's just a waiting game..... What you do is up to your imaginations but look at picture 9, this what I'll do...

#9

Picture 9. I bring out a red wine from my collection and enjoy while the time takes care of the roasting. For that 3.6 kilo of pork, it takes 130 minutes from start to finish, so I have plenty of time to savour my tipple. May I suggest you play a game of mahjong, watch TV/DVD, play compu games, karaoke, surf the net, etc but whatever you do, make sure you are avalaible to turn the timer for extra time to finish your roasting.

#10

Picture 10. Once the roasting is done, make sure you lift off the lid, to prevent condensation as the air cools down and ended up with a roast with soggy skin. This picture shows what you'll see before removing the salt crust.

#11

Picture 11. Remove the salt crust by brushing it off, remove as much salt as possible. Let it rest for 30 minutes before carving or chopping up. If you carve straight away, all the natural juices will drain out and end up with a dry and tough chunk of meat

#12


#13


#14

Picture 12, 13 and 14. Shows the carved roast pork. Leg shank, shoulder pork, you carve with a carving knife, I used a bread knife ( one with serrated blade to cut into the crispy skin ) For pork belly, just use a cleaver to chop into bite size. To serve, you can use hoisin sauce or make your own sauce, anything similar for char siew marinate and reduce over a low heat.

Mity's Food Note:

The posted method is for a plain pork roast... simple and easy for dummies and lazy-bones. For those who are more adventurous, you can move on to the more fanciful methods. For pork belly... you can roast it is, or you can dice the meat portion two third deep lengthwise and across. This is to increase the surface area of the pork for the marinate to permeate.


Marinate them with any combination of these condiments.... hoisin sauce, white/black pepper powder, five spice powder, dark and/or light soya sauce, honey, lemon grass powder, table salt, white/brown sugar, lemon juice, sesame oil, turmeric powder, preserved bean curd, clove powder or even chili powder to cater to each and every individual taste.

Mixed them in a small bowl and smeared them evenly. You can leaved them to marinate in a bowl covered on the bench or you can start roasting immediately. Place the pork in the convection oven, skin side facing upwards, rubbed some cooking oil onto the skin or you can omit this and sprinkle table salt and begin roasting. Some people will tell you to dry the skin properly but I can assure you that is not really necessary as the first thing to evaporate when you start roasting is the water. Some folks will recommend you to score or prick the skin, rubbed vinegar on the skin or air dry them in your fridge for days, pre-boil the skin side to achieve a crispy skin. I would say, do what you want or like but just do make a point to sprinkle heaps of table salt on the skin which is all that is required. Just to recap... for a lazy fella, you don't even have to wash, just three simple steps, SALT... ROAST...REST the meat before carving/chopping for a crispy pork roast and enjoy your creation.