This is a really fun dish perfect for a summer BBQ. Once cooked the salt crust just peels off leaving really moist flesh infused by the fragrant Thai stuffing.
Salt Crust Fish Stuffed With Lemongrass & Served With Dipping Sauce
Serves: 2 - 4 as part of a shared Thai meal
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Ready in: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 whole seabass (600g), gutted and scaled but fins and tail left on
- 2 lemongrass stalks
- 3-4 kaffir lime leaves (fresh or frozen, rather than dried)
- 1 pandanus leaf (optional)
- 250g of coarse sea salt
- 2 tbsp of rice flour or corn flour
- 1-2 tbsp of water
- 1 bamboo skewer to pin
- 1 banana leaf for presentation (optional)
For the dipping sauce:
- 3 coriander roots or stalks
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 5 green bird eye chillies
- 1 thin (5mm) slice of galangal (optional)
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp golden or white caster sugar
- Juice of one mandarin or tangerine (optional)
Method:
- Stuff the seabass cavity with lemongrass, pandanus leaf and kaffir lime leaves, (you can even poke some lemongrass out through its mouth if you like) and pin closed with skewer
- In a bowl, make a fairly thick paste by mixing the rice flour (or corn flour) with two tablespoons of water
- Rub the skin of the fish on one side with the paste then pour over the salt generously, patting it down to stick
- Leave for 5 mins, turn over the fish and then repeat the paste and salt on the other side
- Grill fish on a medium temperature BBQ for around 6-8 minutes on each side or until cooked. You can use a griddle pan to do this if you don't have a BBQ
- In the mean time, make the dipping sauce by pounding the coriander roots or stalks, garlic, chillies and galangal (if using) in a pestle and mortar until fairly smooth, then mix in the lime, fish sauce and sugar (plus mandarin juice if using)
- Serve the fish on the banana leaf with a small bowl of the dipping sauce along side.
National BBQ week runs 30th May - 5th June.
Recipe courtesy of Singha Beer.
Tagged in Recipes