Sea bass is a very versatile fish that can be paired with a wide range of flavours, from a buttery beurre blanc in this recipe to a spicy Indonesian seafood curry or a hot and sour sauce.
Healthy, delicous (of course) and good value - sea bass is always a popular choice on our restaurant menus and we want to help more people cook sea bass fillets at home too.
Scroll down to discover how to cook sea bass the Rick Stein way.
If you love fish, this is a sea bass recipe you must try at home. Grilling sea bass fillets is one of the easiest ways to cook this fab round fish – they're are so thin you don’t need to worry about flipping them during the cookery process and with a little practise you’ll get crispy skin on your sea bass fillets every time.
You can also pan-fry sea bass to get similar results. If using this method you'll need a decent non-stick pan to get crispy skin whilst avoiding it tearing when you remove them. If you don't have a non-stick pan you can simply use a circle of parchment in a standard frying pan. Alternatively, you could roast the fillets in the oven on 180°C for around 6 minutes.
Ingredients
- 8 sea bass fillets, around 90g each
- A little melted butter, for brushing
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the beurre blanc:
- 5g shallots, very finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 4 tablespoons dry white wine or vermouth, such as Noilly Prat
- 6 tablespoons fish stock (recipe here)
- 2 tablespoons double cream
- 175g chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Method
1) Preheat the grill to high. Brush the sea bass fillets with some melted butter and season inside and out with salt and black pepper.
2) Put the sea bass on a buttered baking tray and grill for about 4 minutes, until the flesh is firm and opaque and the skin is crispy.
3) Serve with wilted spinach and some minted new potatoes (or chips).
For the beurre blanc:
1) Put the shallots, vinegar, wine or vermouth and stock into a small pan and simmer until reduced to about 4 tablespoons.
2) Add the cream and boil until reduced a little more. Lower the heat and gradually whisk in the butter, a few pieces at a time, until the sauce is thick and creamy.
3) Season to taste with salt and pepper and pass through a sieve into a clean warm jug.
Whether you're planning a weekend celebration or a midweek supper, this classic sea bass with beurre blanc will get rave reviews around the table, we guarentee it. It's simple, quick to make and once you've mastered the sauce you can experiment with different fish species, like hake or turbot.
Happy cooking.
