Pla Pao Salt Crusted Grilled Fish 🐟🔥

Description

Whole fish packed in a light salt crust, grilled until the skin peels away clean and the flesh stays insanely juicy, served with a bright lime garlic dipping sauce for that premium street stall flavor at home. 🍋

Hook ✨

If you want a fish dish that looks impressive, ranks hard in search, and is actually simple, pla pao is the move, salt crust protects moisture, high heat adds smoke, and the sauce makes it feel restaurant level. ✨

Ingredients

• Fish
• 🐟 1 whole sea bass or tilapia, cleaned, about 900–1000 g (2–2.2 lb)
• 🧻 10 g paper towels, for drying (a few sheets / 0.35 oz)
• 🧂 900 g coarse salt (3½ cups / 2 lb)
• 🥚 1 large egg white, optional for binding (1)
• 🌿 10 g cilantro stems, optional to stuff (½ cup / 0.35 oz)
• 🍃 6 g lemongrass, bruised, optional (1 stalk / 0.2 oz)
• Dipping sauce
• 🍋 30 ml lime juice (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
• 🥣 30 ml fish sauce (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
• 🍯 10 ml sugar syrup (2 tsp / 0.34 fl oz)
• 🧄 12 g garlic, finely minced (4 cloves / 0.4 oz)
• 🌶️ 5 g Thai chili, thin sliced (1–2 chilies / 0.18 oz)
• 🌿 10 g cilantro, chopped (½ cup / 0.35 oz)
• Serve
• 🥬 200 g lettuce leaves (4 cups / 7 oz)
• 🥒 200 g cucumber, sticks (2 cups / 7 oz)
• 🍚 450 g cooked jasmine rice, optional (3 cups / 1 lb)

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Dry the fish
2. Pat the fish very dry inside and out so the salt crust sets clean and grills evenly. 🧻
3. 2️⃣ Optional aromatics
4. Stuff the cavity with cilantro stems and bruised lemongrass for a more premium aroma, do not overpack. 🌿
5. 3️⃣ Mix the salt crust
6. In a bowl combine coarse salt with egg white if using, mix until it feels like damp sand that clumps when pressed. 🧂
7. 4️⃣ Build the crust
8. Lay a 1.5 cm (½ in) bed of salt on a tray, place fish on top, then pack the remaining salt all around and over the fish in a solid shell. 🐟
9. 5️⃣ Preheat
10. Heat grill to medium high, or heat oven to 220°C (428°F) with a hot tray inside. 🔥
11. 6️⃣ Cook
12. Grill covered 25–30 min, or bake 28–32 min, until the salt crust is hard and the fish smells roasted and rich. ⏳
13. 7️⃣ Rest
14. Rest 8 min so juices settle and the flesh stays juicy when opened. 🛋️
15. 8️⃣ Make the dipping sauce
16. Whisk lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar syrup until dissolved, then add garlic, chili, and cilantro. 🍋
17. 9️⃣ Crack and peel
18. Crack the salt shell, lift away big pieces, peel off the skin, then flake the fish into clean chunks, discard bones. 🥢
19. 🔟 Serve
20. Serve with lettuce, cucumber, rice, and the dipping sauce, build bites like a premium street wrap. 🥬

Total Time

⏱️ Prep: 15 min
🔥 Cook/Bake: 30 min
🛋️ Rest: 8 min
⏰ Total: 53 min

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