Salt-Crusted Snapper - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 (5 lb) red snapper or (5 lb) sea bass, whole, scaled, cleaned and fins removed
fresh ground pepper, to taste
3 egg whites, at room temperature
2/3 cup water
9 cups kosher salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Rinse snapper inside and out with cold water; pat dry with paper towels.
Season fish inside and out with pepper.
In a bowl, stir together egg whites, water and salt to make a paste.
Spread half of salt paste over the bottom of an oval roasting pan.
Place fish on top; pack remaining salt paste over entire surface of fish.
Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of fish registers 135 degrees F., about 50-60 minutes.
The salt paste will have formed a hard crust; gently crack it with a spoon, lift off crust and discard.
Serve fish immediately.