Fish

Salt-crusted ocean trout with tartare sauce

Name: Salt-crusted ocean trout with tartare sauce recipe
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 3kg table salt; 3kg whole ocean trout, gutted, scaled; Good-quality extra virgin olive oil, to serve; 300g mayonnaise; 40.00 ml capers, finely chopped; 1 eschalot, finely chopped; 1/2 bunch dill, finely chopped; Zest and juice of 1 lemon

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P64 Salt-crusted ocean trout with tartare sauce

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by Segundo Farrell

CHEF

Nov 21, 2022

"The beauty of the salt crust is that it gets hard as a rock so the fish will sort of steam. If you grill it, it will lose water; if you cook it in a pan, it will lose water. But with this technique, all the juices of the flesh stays in the fish, and that’s the beauty of it. This is a way of cooking where we can really respect and appreciate the fish.”

3kg table salt
3kg whole ocean trout, gutted, scaled
Good-quality extra virgin olive oil, to serve

Tartare sauce

1 cup (300g) mayonnaise
2 tbs capers, finely chopped
1 eschalot, finely chopped
1/2 bunch dill, finely chopped
Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Method

1.

Preheat oven to 220°C. For the tartare, place all ingredients in a small bowl and season with salt flakes. Stir to combine. Chill until required.
2.

Combine salt and 1 1/2 cups (375ml) water in a large bowl until the consistency of wet sand. (Add a little more water if required.) Spread enough salt mixture over the base of a large baking dish (big enough to snugly fit the fish) to form a 2cm-thick layer. Top with the fish.
3.

Cover fish with remaining salt mixture and pack tightly over and around fish. Roast for 30-35 minutes until the salt crust is hard and dry. Set aside for 10 minutes to rest. When ready to serve, break the salt crust gently, trying to remove it in one piece. Make a cut in the middle of the fish and on the sides, from head to tail.
4.

Place a fork in between the skin and flesh, rolling to remove the skin. Season with salt flakes, drizzle with olive oil and serve with tartare sauce.