The local newspaper featured a Chilean sea bass recipe from Fine
Cooking magazine that had a medley of Asian spices that caught the
eye of The Little Woman.
“OK, I’ll use the seasonings but the rest of the recipe is not to my liking.” It called for cider vinegar, which I use sparingly; a one inch thick fish fillet, which is not typical; poaching it and serving the poaching liquid as a broth; and using cilantro, which we love, only as a garnish along with a few scallions. Not.
Since the Chilean sea bass fillets I get from American Seafood are about
three inches thick, poaching them to doneness would over-boil the poaching liquid beyond what I would serve as a broth. There’s a more gentle way. Bake it in the manner of my Red Snapper Veracruz
and serve it over Rice.
Here’s how:
4 T high quality soy sauce, or 2T of the low salt stuff
1.5-2 Lbs Chilean sea bass fillet, with skin removed
3-4 C chicken stock or canned broth
1/3 C honey
4 T tomato paste
3 T white wine vinegar
12 thin slices of fresh ginger root (quarter size), diced
4 dashes Tennessee Sunshine or other hot sauce
3 scallions, sliced thinly on the bias, white and green parts
1/2 C cilantro leaves, diced
1. Place the fish fillet and soy sauce in a pan to marinate in the fridge for an hour
2. Whisk together in a stainless steel bowl all the other ingredients (except the rice)
3. Remove fish from the fridge, turn it over in the soy sauce one more time, and place it in a suitable baking dish (see photo)
4. Discard the left over soy sauce
5. Pour the liquid mixture over the fish and into the pan
6. Nicely arrange some scallion, ginger and cilantro parts on
top of the fish
7. Bake in a 350F oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, uncovered
8. Check for doneness with a fork
(the flakes should part easily)
9. Serve in heated soup bowls over rice and garnish with cilantro
sprigs
