Salt-crusted Red Mullet
THAILAND
This Thai method of grilling a whole fish is quite special. You cover the fish with a layer of salt crust before cooking it slowly over the barbecue. Rather than crispy charred skin, with this recipe you are after the wonderfully tender and moist flesh inside. I stuffed the red mullet with lemongrass and ginger, but you can also vary this with other herbs and aromatics. The pungent spicy dipping sauce is a must for drizzling over.
- 4 red mullet (about 1kg)
- 4 slices of ginger
- 4 stalks of lemongrass, white part only
- 4 tablespoons cornflour
- 3 tablespoons water
- 150g coarse sea salt
- nam pla prik (see here)
- a handful of fresh coriander
- Get your fishmonger to scale and gut the red mullet. Rinse the fish and pat dry.
- Smash the ginger and bash the lemongrass stalks with something heavy, like a pestle or the back of a knife. Fold the lemongrass stalks in half and stuff into the cavity of the fish, along with the ginger.
- Stir together the cornflour and water to form a rather thick slurry and brush all over the fish. Spread half the salt over to form a thin crust. Leave to dry, for about 15 minutes. Carefully turn over and repeat on the other side.
- Prepare your barbecue. You want a steady, but moderately low heat. Lay the fish gently on top of the grill, and cook, turning once, until the crust is golden brown and hard, about 15–20 minutes. Alternatively, you can bake the fish in the oven for the same length of time at 200°C/gas 6.
- Meanwhile, prepare a basic nam pla prik (see here). Finely chop the coriander, stalks included, and stir into the nam pla prik to make a dipping sauce.
- Transfer the fish to a plate. Remove the crust with two forks – the skin should lift off the fish cleanly, revealing moist tender flesh. Serve with the dipping sauce and plenty of plain rice or sticky rice.