Whole baked salmon in salt with lemon thyme and slices of lemon
Salt-baking fish isn’t as tricky as you might think, and it produces the most amazingly moist and well-seasoned salmon. Serves 8 • Ready in 1hr 15mins, plus chilling
1 whole salmon, gutted, around 2kg, the head removed
4 egg whites
1kg coarse rock salt (depending on the size of your fish)
1 lemon, sliced into rounds 1 bunch of fresh lemon thyme
1 Double-line a baking tray large enough to fit the fish with baking parchment or oiled foil.
2 Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then mix with the salt. Cover the fish in the salt mix to make an “oven”. Put enough of the salt mix on the baking tray to provide a base large enough for the salmon, then put the fish on top. Tuck the lemon and thyme into the cavity. Spread the rest of the salt mix over the fish so it’s covered (don’t bother with the tail). Leave it in the fridge for a few hrs until you’re ready to bake it.
3 To cook, heat the oven to 200C/ Gas Mark 6. A fish this size will take 50-60mins to cook – to check, you should be able to insert a metal skewer through the crust and straight into the fish.
4 To serve, break the crust – it will come off in big chunks. Remove the skin and put the fish on a board with fresh lemon wedges and herbs. Ease off the top fillet then pull away the main bone, which will come away easily, then serve the bottom fillet. Make sure you ease away the side bones. Per serving: Cals 474, Fat 33g,
Sat fat 6g, Carbs 0g