Salt-Baked Trout

This recipe is a showstopper — just imagine bringing out a small mountain of toasted salt that you crack table side to reveal a perfectly soft and pink whole trout within. The technique is borrowed from beggars’ chicken, which cooks in clay, and Hakka salt-baked chicken, which is buried in salt, as explained in Brandon Jew and Tienlon Ho’s “Mister Jiu’s in Chinatown.” The trout roe brings the fish to another level, but if it’s out of your price range, don’t let that stop you from making this dish. It’s still beautiful and luxurious with just the ginger-scallion sauce.

Salt-crusted trout

1 dried lotus leaf, about 12 inches wide, soaked in water 4 hours

1 whole cleaned trout (1- to 1½-pounds), fins cut off

1 cup egg whites, at room temperature

2 pounds kosher salt

¼ cup chopped fennel or dill fronds (optional)

Charred ginger-green onion sauce 3 green onions

1 tablespoon peeled and finely chopped ginger

½ garlic clove, finely chopped

¼ cup sunflower oil or grapeseed oil

1½ tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 tablespoon cured trout roe or caviar, plus more for serving

To make the trout: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat generously with cooking spray.

Remove the lotus leaf from the water and arrange vein-side up. Place the trout on the lotus leaf toward the leaf’s bottom edge. Fold the sides and bottom edge over the fish, then flip the fish over until it is completely and tightly wrapped. You may not need the whole leaf; trim the excess so that the trout is wrapped in only one layer or so.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Turn the speed to low, add the salt and herbs (if using), and mix until the salt is evenly moist and holds together like brown sugar, about 1 minute.

Pour about one-fourth of the salt mixture on the prepared baking sheet and pat into a roomy bed for the fish. Lay the wrapped trout, seam-side down, on the salt. Use about half of the remaining salt to pack around the sides of the fish, then pack the rest on top of the fish. Pat down the salt so that it is evenly thick and has no gaps, cracks or loose bits. (At this point, you can refrigerate for a few hours before finishing.)

Roast the fish until the flesh is just cooked through, firm but not tough, 20 to 30 minutes. You can test the fish by sticking a cake tester or metal skewer through the crust into the center of the fish for 5 seconds or so. When you pull it out, it should feel lukewarm, not cold or ripping hot. A thermometer reading from the center of the flesh should be 125 degrees.

To make the sauce: Meanwhile, thinly slice the green onions crosswise, separating the whites and light green parts from the dark green tops, which cook a little faster. Warm a wok or a small frying pan over high heat. Add the white and light green parts of the green onions and stir-fry until starting to char, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the dark green parts until wilted, about 2 minutes more. Stir in the ginger and garlic. Transfer to a small serving bowl and then stir in the sunflower oil, sesame oil and soy sauce.

To finish: Using a spoon, crack a lid in the salt crust by tapping a rectangular outline along the length of the fish. You should be able to remove the salt in just a few pieces. Cut down the middle of the lotus leaf with a pair of scissors. Gently pull back the leaf, which should also remove the skin, to reveal pink flesh. Drop three large spoonfuls of the ginger-green onion sauce on the trout. Top each dollop with a small spoonful of trout roe. Serve with more sauce and trout roe on the side.