Cooking Sea Bass
Recipe type: Seafood
When Cooking Sea Bass I always think of that book written by Ernest Hemingway, “The Old Man and the Sea”. Don’t ask me why I think about Hemingway and this particular book when I turn myself into a sea bass cook. My thought process really does not have any rhyme or reason to it. After all, in the story, Santiago is not out try to catch sea bass. No my friends he is out there in the Gulf of Mexico putting his life on the line for a giant marlin.
Well then maybe I thought that he was going to catch and learn how to cook Chilean sea bass. But that doesn’t make any sense either. Chile is on the west coast of South America far away from the Gulf of Mexico. How did these odd thoughts enter my mind?
Well if it wasn’t Chilean sea bass cooking that fits into this story then I’m not sure what does. Really the only thing that makes sense at this point is for us to turn our combined attention to cooking sea bass recipes. And speaking of sea bass recipes, this particular one is a sweet and sour sea bass recipe.
How To Cook Sea Bass
Ingredients
- 2 3 1/4 ounce sea bass fillets, skinned and boned
- 1 cup shredded bok choy
- 1/2 cup bean sprouts
- 1/3 cup sliced shitake mushrooms
- 1/3 cup torn oyster mushrooms
- 3 scallions, finely sliced
- 1 teaspoon finely grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon finely sliced lemongrass
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 star anise, crushed
- 1/3 cup tomato juice
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch, blended with a little cold water
Cooking Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400F
- Cut two 15 inch squares of parchment paper and two 15 inch squares of aluminum foil.
- To make the sauce, heat the pineapple juice, sugar, red wine vinegar, star anise, and tomato juice. Let simmer for 1-2 minutes, then thicken with the cornstarch and water mixture, whisking continuously. Pass through a fine strainer into a small bowl to cool.
- In a separate large bowl, mix together the bok choy, bean sprouts, mushrooms, and scallions, then add the ginger and lemongrass. Toss all the ingredients together.
- Put a square of parchment paper on top of a square of foil and fold into a triangle. Open up and place half the vegetable mix in the center, pour half the sweet and sour sauce over the vegetables, and place the sea bass on top. Sprinkle with a few sesame seeds. Close the triangle over the mixture and crumple the edges together to form an airtight triangular parcel. Repeat to make another parcel.
- Place on a cookie sheet and cook in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, until the foil parcels puff with steam. To serve, place on individual plates and snip open at the table.
Well wasn’t that fun. Not the easiest recipe in the world, but if you want gourmet seafood then easy is not in the seafood cookbook. After all cooking sea bass fillets is an art that shouldn’t be rushed.
Oh and by the way, if you are at all interested, not only did Santiago end up not cooking sea bass, but he also didn’t get to cook the giant marlin he caught. The sharks ate the fish up before he got to shore.
The next time you read a good book about a fisherman you should really think about this recipe site and Cooking Sea Bass.