Pla Phao | Juicy Thai Salt-Crusted Fish

Preheat the oven to 200 °C top/bottom heat. Thoroughly rinse the sea bream inside and out under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Do not scale the fish – together with the salt crust, the scales protect the juicy fish meat from absorbing too much salt.

Firmly bruise the lemongrass stalks with the back of a knife, cut in half, and stuff into the abdominal cavities of both sea bream along with a few coriander stems.

For the salt crust, mix the sea salt in a large bowl with the wheat flour and the 2 egg whites (or 50 ml cold water) until a slightly moist, compact mixture forms. Thanks to the flour, the damp salt mixture adheres perfectly to the fish scales.