SpiceLines

I had intended to make Hakka-style chicken baked in a wok covered in salt. The word “Hakka,” which means “guests,” is the name given to a Northern Chinese people who, over the course of 2,000 years, fled further and further south to escape marauding tribes and imperial armies. Eventually they settled in Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong provinces.

In a way they were perpetual guests, always on the move, always the new folks in town.

In time the resourceful Hakka developed a style of cooking well-suited to their nomadic lifestyle. Salt is a key ingredient. Dried and preserved foods, such as pickled vegetables and fermented bean curd, lasted indefinitely and replaced salt lost by sweating. Dung Gong Yam Guk Gai, or salt-baked chicken, may have evolved as a way of cooking the bird in a protective crust. Salt is a good conductor of heat (handy if you don’t have an oven) and even a tough old hen will be more tender and juicy when cooked under a salt dome.

Incidentally, salt-baked chicken doesn’t taste salty. It has a delicate, slightly nutty flavor and is faintly redolent of the star anise and other seasonings stuffed in the cavity. It is delicious with spicy condiments such as garlic in vinegar and hot sauce sweetened with a little sugar.

I was still dreaming about Hakka chicken when I got home and unwrapped the red snapper. Maybe I would cook the fish the same way…

And so I did, sprinkling the fish, inside and out with a little vermouth and then stuffing the body cavity with scallions and sliced ginger. You could use rice wine or sherry instead of vermouth, of course, but I like the way the vermouth’s sultry, bittersweet flavor—it was Dolin, B’s favorite, by the way—brought out the sweetness of the snapper.

There was just one hitch: the salt. Somehow I came home with rock salt, rather than kosher. It wasn't food grade and when I saw bits of gravel among the chunky crystals, I decided that the fish needed protective armor, so I wrapped it in parchment and for good measure, in a layer of aluminum foil.

After 30 minutes in the hot rock salt, the snapper emerged from its wrappings in puff of fragrant steam. Its white flesh was firm and succulent and, like the chicken, it had a sweet, almost nutty flavor. I could just barely taste the ginger and scallions. Dipped in soy sauce with more ginger, chopped scallions and few drops of sesame oil, it was a feast.

So good, in fact, that I’ll do it again—and again. Forget the chicken.

Salt Baked Red Snapper with Ginger, Scallions and Soy

Serves 2

Ingredients for the fish:

4 to 6 pounds rock or kosher salt
A whole red snapper, 1-1/2 pounds, scaled and cleaned
1 tablespoon vermouth or rice wine
1 or 2 scallions, trimmed
1-inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced

Ingredients for the sauce:

2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon chicken broth
1 teaspoon grated ginger
½ teaspoon sesame oil
1 scallion, green parts only, chopped

Method:

1. Set a large wok (mine is 18 inches in diameter) on a burner on top of the stove. Pour in the salt and spread it around the sides of the wok. (Be sure there is enough salt in the wok to cover the fish—I used 6 pounds.) Turn the flame to medium and let the salt heat for 30 minutes, until it is very hot.

2. Rinse the fish gently in cold water and pat it dry, inside and out. Rub the cavity with some of the vermouth or rice wine, and sprinkle the rest over the outside of the fish. If the scallions are fat, split them in half lengthwise and cut them into 1-inch pieces. Stuff the fish with the scallions and slices of ginger.

3. Lay the fish down on a long piece of parchment paper. Wrap the paper around the fish so that it is completely covered and seal the top by folding it over several times. Lay a long piece of aluminum foil on the counter. Place the fish on the foil and wrap the foil securely, but not tightly, around the fish.

4. When the salt is hot, dig a “well” for the fish with a large spoon. Place the fish in the depression and spoon the hot salt over it. Cover the wok with a top or with aluminum foil, and let the fish bake undisturbed for 30 minutes.

5. While the snapper is cooking, make the sauce by combining the soy and other ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk and set aside.

6. When the fish is done, remove it from the salt and place it on a platter. Undo the foil and the parchment wrappings, and serve immediately with individual bowls of the sauce, white rice and a simple cucumber salad.