Pla Pao (Salt Crusted Baked Fish)

More lovely fish :) One of the good things to have come out of my move to North Yorkshire is access to a new supermarket (Morrisons) which (imho) has much better fish than the other major supermarket chains. So I’ve been eating much more of it of late. This is a great recipe, fun to do and fairly quick and easy- the salt crust keeps everything really juicy inside.

For two people you’ll need:

• Two fish (tilapia, sea bass, bream etc.) LEAVE SCALES ON THE FISH! Very important!!


• 500g salt


• a handful of flour


• a splash of water


• a few sticks of lemongrass, bashed

and for the Nam Jim seafood sauce use:

• juice of 1 lime


• a big splash of fish sauce (nam pla) all supermarkets sell it


• 3 more garlic cloves, peeled


• 3 or 4 green Thai chillies


• a small handful of coriander, finely chopped


• a pinch of sugar

Heat the oven to about 180 degrees/ 350F/ gas 4. In a bowl mix up the salt, flour and splash of water- you should have a thick paste. Take the fish (and remember the fish wants it’s scaled LEFT ON for this recipe) and stuff the bashed lemongrass stalks inside the cavity. Place the fish onto a baking tray and press a thin coating of the salt paste all over the fish but avoid getting in inside the cavity. Bake it in the oven, very gently turning it over after 20 minutes or so. Altogether it should take about 30-40 minutes or until the crust is rock hard and brown. 

While the fish is baking, make the Nam Jim seafood sauce. In a pestle and mortar, bash up the 3 garlic cloves and green chillies for a moment till you have a rough paste. Add in the chopped coriander, pinch of sugar, fish sauce and lime juice. Stir it well and pour out in a small bowl for later on.

When the fish is done, very carefully lift it out, peeling the whole crust and skin off the fish- try to keep the all the salt away from the freshly exposed fish. Serve alongside some coriander and the nam jim seafood sauce.