Heat oven to 450 degrees. Cover the bottom of a baking sheet
large enough to hold the fish with parchment paper.
Rinse fish inside and out with cold water and drain. Dry with
paper towels. Stuff body cavity with herbs and citrus, saving a
few lemon slices for garnish. Set aside.
Pour 1 box of salt into a large bowl, add egg whites and
water, then the second box of salt. Use your hands to work
mixture to a mortar-like consistency. Lay down a 1/2-inch thick
bed for the fish to lay on with a 1-inch clearance on all sides.
Lay the fish on this bed and pile the remainder of the salt
mortar on top. Work into a smooth dome completely encasing the
fish. (Don't worry if the head or tail poke out a little.)
Cook approximately 35 minutes. Check for doneness by pushing
the probe of an instant read thermometer through the salt into
the fish. When temperature reaches 130 degrees, remove from
oven, and rest at room temperature for 5 minutes. Open the fish
at the table by hitting the dome several times with a small
hammer and lifting off the slabs of salt. Brush away any stray
salt. Gently pull out dorsal (back) fin. Using a fish knife or
serrated pie server, make a single incision all the way down the
back of the fish and around the gill plate. Then lift the skin
off working from the head to the tail. Remove meat from top side
of fish, going down one side of the spine then the other. Grasp
the tail and remove the skeleton, (it should come up intact).
The meat revealed below will slide right off the skin.
Sprinkle meat with a little virgin oil and lemon juice. Serve
immediately.
