Best way to cook Sea Bass?

angie_loves_veg

two that I cook regularly

for whole sea bass - stuff with coriander/ ginger / chillli etc steam it. In a small pan heat 2tblsp each of soy and walnut oil. take the fish out, sprinkle over more spring onions, chilli, ginger, coriander then pour the hot 'sauce' over. serve with plain rice.

for bass fillets, Jamie Olivers (a la Tony blair) something like this.... cook chunky slices of potato (tossed in a little oil) in a single layer in a roasting tin, when nearly done, add mushrooms and put the fish on top - return to the oven until all cooked through yum!

Pink.

Hi Jolanta,

There's an older thread on cooking Sea Bass that should help so I've merged your thread with it to keep all the recipes together.

Pink

crispeater

odds-n-sods wrote: »

You generally fillet it - cut it off the spine. Much easier to portion a sea bass after its been cooked, it lifts off the bones easily.

Lift the skin off the top fillet. Lift the fillet off the spine with a spatula or egg lifter or palette knife. the peel off the spine and you should be able to lift the bottom fillet off its skin. If it won't lift off easily the fish isn't cooked enough! But don't overcook it, either.

To do it raw:
1 gutted fish
1 very sharp boning /filleting knife
1 towel

For Right-handed people:
Take ahold of the fish's tail with your left hand, using the towel to cover your hand. Lay the knife at the tail end, pointing towards the head. Hold the knife almost but not quite flat and parralel to the spine. Cut along the spine of the fish - as you cut you should be able to feel the knife rubbing against the spine vertebrae. Try not to cut into the spine, just use it as a guide. Once you've gotten to the head, make a downward cut right behind the gills from the skin to the spine. Turn the fish over and repeat.

To skin a fish:
Lay the fillet skin-side down on the cutting board. Hold the very end of the fillet using a towel in your left hand. Lay the knife at the tail end, almost parralel to the cutting board, but not quite, and begin to cut in between the skin and the flesh. Pull with your left hand on the skin as you cut to keep pressure on the skin - this will almost pull the fish onto the knife and make skinning the fish very easy. You should have no skin or only the brown part of the flesh on the skin when you have done this right.

my bil has very kindly given me 2 sea bass which his dad caught but i havent a clue how to prepare them. it looks like the tails are already cut off but as they are still frozen i dont know if the scales are still there or not..

from the above do i keep the head on while filleting?? do i really have to have him staring at me while i cut him up for the pan :eek: i've never prepared anything with a head on before... not to my knowledge anyway :rotfl:

mouseymousey99

Hi - Had this on hols & it was super scrummy! I would love to cook it here. I did a Google and I can't find it to buy here. I'm wondering if it is some generic name for sea bass? Anyone help please? Many thanks

pigpen

sea bass is usually called sea bass over here.. it is difficult to come by unless you go to a fish wholesalers though as often most wet fish shops do not sell them as it is not in great demand.

Have a scout round for a fresh fish wholesalers, I almost said there are loads about but I live in a port with a massive fishing heritage.. there should be one.

mouseymousey99

Thanks Pigpen I'm still fiddling about I did find someone who sells fish by mail from Manchester,
http://www.fishfanatics.co.uk/
and I am very tempted! Tesco has sea bass on the online thingie but its 17.89 a kilo (2lbs?) mmmm.
where are you? Thinking Hull/Grimsby - maybe Hastings??

MrsMW

Most of the big supermarkets have Sea Bass and they also have frozen fillets at Iceland.

mouseymousey99

Yes it was the 'Golden' bit that threw me, I thought it was a species of Sea Bass - like Aberdeen Angus beef (if you see what I mean)? Anyway's, I had a chat with the chap at fishfanatics and he confirmed it was the cooking style...so have placed an order with them.:T They have some super stuff if anyone else is into fish.

Penelope_Penguin

mouseymousey99 wrote: »

Yes it was the 'Golden' bit that threw me, I thought it was a species of Sea Bass - like Aberdeen Angus beef (if you see what I mean)? Anyway's, I had a chat with the chap at fishfanatics and he confirmed it was the cooking style...so have placed an order with them.:T They have some super stuff if anyone else is into fish.

That website looks great - they look like the Plaice to buy fish :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

I'll add this to the existing thread on sea bass.

Penny. x

laineyc_2

Oh, I wish you hadn't posted that link for fish fanatics, lol! I have just ordered some whitebait and scampi from them. I gave in to temptation.