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A SUMMER FEAST: SNAPPER TWO WAYS.
By Ben Miller
For a long time I'd heard about the wonders of the D.C. fish market. (For those unaware, you take the green or yellow line to the L'Enfant Plaza metro station, walk on west D Street and then take a left at 12th Street). I went down there on Sunday and was very impressed with both the selection and prices. Not only were oysters only $1 each, but whole red snapper was just $5.99 a pound, with an additional cost of about $1.30 to scale and gut three pounds of fish.
With three whole fish at about a pound each, I decided to prepare them two different ways: salt roasted, based on this recipe here from DC Foodies, and on the grill. Overall, I found that both results yielded fish with a very pleasing texture, though the salt roasted fish was more flavorful. Either way, cooking the whole fish helped keep the meat from drying out. (Thanks again to sous chef and photographer Kay Steiger.)
Ingredients and recipes after the jump.
Salt Roasted Snapper
1 whole red snapper, gutted and scaled
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Small handful of fresh herbs, such as basil, thyme, or parsley
1/2 - 3/4 of a box of salt
1 cup water, or more as needed
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Pour the salt into a bowl and slowly add water until it forms a somewhat thick paste. Take some of the salt to cover the bottom of a pyrex casserole dish or cookie sheet.
Combine the butter with whatever kind of herbs you are using. I personally used a combination of fresh basil, thyme, and parsley all chopped fairly fine.
Wash the fish and pat dry. Take the herb butter and rub it on both sides of the fish and on the inside.
Place the fish on the salt bed and cover it completely with the rest of the salt. Place in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes.
When done, remove the dish from the oven and crack the crust. Something with a thick handle works best, though be careful not to hit the salt too hard, or you'll go through the crust and the fish, inundating it with salt. Clean the salt off of the fish, fillet, and serve with lemon wedges.
To fillet the fish, make a cut on the side of the fish just behind its head and one running from the head to the tail along the top. Use a spatula to lift the meat off the skeleton. Don't worry if this doesn't work, I completely screwed up the attempt to fillet the fish and ended up just pulling the meat off the bones.
Grilled Red Snapper
2 whole red snappers, about 1 pound each, gutted and scaled
salt
fresh ground black pepper
olive oil
vegetable oil
This recipe works on either a charcoal or gas grill, but since I'm admittedly a charcoal snob, the recipe directions are for the former. Whichever type of grill you use, it's really important to make sure the grate is well oiled. If not, your fish will stick and make it very difficult to turn.
Heat up the coals and arrange in a single layer. Make sure the grate is well oiled once it is hot, using tongs, paper towels, and vegetable oil.
Meanwhile, rub both sides and the cavity of the fish with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. The recipe I worked from recommended making cuts every 2 inches on the side of fish, though I think this matters more if you are using a larger fish, since I forgot to do it and it still turned out fine.
Place the fish on the grill and cook uncovered for 6 to 8 minutes on each side. Fillet (or find some less elegant way to get the meat off the fish) and serve with lemon wedges.
COMMENTS (4)
Your earlier mention of the trip catalyzed me to head to the fish market Monday night myself, where I also got some oysters and red snapper (filets, though). I don't know that I'd ever had snapper before, but it was **good**.
Posted by: Cliffy | August 13, 2008 10:47 AM
Interesting recipe. How do you clean the salt off the fish? Just brush it off?
Posted by: tmv | August 13, 2008 11:17 AM
In terms of cleaning the salt off, most of it just comes off cleanly since it forms a crust. You can brush it off, which I would recommend using a silicone basting/pastry brush so that none of the hairs get on the fish. But an added advantage of using a whole fish is that most of the salt gets on the skin, so you don't really have to worry about it getting into the interior of the fish except through the cut on the side.
Posted by: Ben Miller | August 13, 2008 11:46 AM
I've not done a salt crust with fish before, but I've done it several times with beef roasts. As he says, it mostly forms a crust you can just crack off; the meat itself has a bit of a salty tang, but not at all overpowering, and not the same taste as when you oversalt something on your plate.
Posted by: Cliffy | August 13, 2008 1:44 PM