Chef José Andrés bakes whole fish in a salt crust until it’s perfectly moist and seasoned. His trick is to leave the scales on the fish, which makes the skin very easy to peel off after baking. Slideshow: More Red Snapper Recipes
How to Make It
Preheat the oven to 400°. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix the kosher salt with 1/2 cup of water until it resembles moist sand. Strip the leaves from half of the rosemary and thyme sprigs and mix into the bowl along with 2 of the bay leaves.
Spread half of the salt mixture in the center of the baking sheet and place the remaining rosemary and thyme sprigs and bay leaves on top. Lay the fish on the mound, then cover with the remaining salt mixture, lightly packing it to completely cover the fish.
Bake the fish for 35 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into it registers 135°. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes.
Crack the top salt crust and discard it. Remove and discard the skin from the top of the fish and, using a fish spatula, carefully transfer the top fillet to a platter. Flip the fish over and repeat the process. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Serve.