Sea bass is a very culinary valuable fish. This deep-sea resident belongs to the scorpion family. But, despite the fact that in appearance it resembles our river perch, these fish are not even distant relatives. The inhabitants of the seas poisonous glands are hidden in the rays of the fins. Yes, and his habits, like a real predator. Therefore, one of the species of such a perch is called the “sea wolf”. Thanks to the restaurant business, sea bass has become popular in Russia. This is a very tasty fish with tender meat. But the large family of sea bass does not end there. Among them are the Pacific beak, and baranuka, and more than a hundred species. Fish soup and fish soup are prepared from sea bass. It turns out very tasty fried in a pan. But this article is devoted to only one method of cooking fish - baking. Read about how to cook sea bass in the oven. We offer you a selection of the most simple and proven recipes.
Fish cutting
First of all, you need to remember about the poisonous spikes on the fins of sea bass. Therefore, if you personally caught fish or bought it at the coastal market, wear gloves. But many residents of Russia, living away from large water areas, receive sea bass already in their cut form - without a head, fins, and often already cleaned of scales. What kind of fish will you get? If you live or relax in the tropics, you can enjoy the red sea bass. And in our stores you are likely to buy a representative of the species Sebastes pinniger, canary perch, which in English-speaking countries is called "orange rockfish". The fish got its name due to the bright color of the scales. And her meat is pink, beautiful. If river bass is difficult to clean, then sea bass is very easy. Just dip the carcass into a bowl of water and rub it with a special brush to remove the scales from the fish. And before we start wondering how to cook perch in the oven, we need to cut it in such a way that the spices penetrate the carcass and the nutrients remain inside. Since most often we have the opportunity to buy sea bass in frozen form, you need to know how to properly defrost it to room temperature. Do not put the carcass in hot water. So the beneficial properties will turn into a liquid, and the meat will become tasteless and will fall apart. Simply move the carcass from the freezer to the refrigerator, and then to the kitchen table.
Secrets of Sea Bass Roasting
Sea bass comes out delicious with any cooking method. They make fish soup, cutlets and fry it. But foodies believe that it tastes best baked. A solid carcass of juicy pink color will be the decoration of the festive table. And the fish cooked in the oven will remain more dietary and healthy: after all, it will not be oversaturated with fats, as when frying. And the calories in the dish (if you do not abuse fatty sauces) will be only 164 units per hundred grams of the product. Before preparing perch in the oven, shallow cuts are made on the sides of the fish. This technique allows you to thoroughly bake a few bones of sea bass, and marinade or sauce more easily penetrate deep into the fibers of the meat. But you can pre-milling sea bass. Before baking, it is recommended to marinate the fish by rubbing the sides with spices and lemon juice. According to some recipes, perch in the oven is cooked with a side dish. But in this case, it should be remembered that the sea bass is baked very quickly. Therefore, potatoes, rice, mushrooms and some vegetables need to be boiled or fried separately, and combined with fish at the last stage of work.
Cooking perch in the oven in foil: recipe
This is a classic way of baking sea bass. Thanks to the foil, the fish does not dry out, since a piece of aluminum holds the vapor inside the bundle. Sea bass as if boiled in its own juice, soaked in spices. To prepare a delicious festive meal, you need a fish weighing 400 grams, a small lemon, salt and spices at your discretion. We cut the sea bass, removing the fins, head, entrails and scales. Dry the washed carcass slightly with napkins. Rub with salt and spices. On the sides of the fish we make transverse oblique cuts. Scalp the lemon and cut into circles no more than half a centimeter thick. We put slices of citrus into the cuts on the sides of sea bass. Wrap the fish in foil. We send the package to the oven preheated to 200 degrees. We bake it for 45 minutes. Cooked in the oven, in foil, sea bass comes out very tender, as if steamed. If you like a fried fish crust, do not wait 45 minutes. After half an hour, pull out the aluminum bag and carefully, so as not to get burned with steam, cut it. Send the fish back to bake for another 10 minutes.
Recipe for Finnish Wild Berry Sauce
Oven baked in the oven is delicious in and of itself. But it will be better if you serve a spectacular bright sauce to the festive dish. Incidentally, it is suitable not only for fish, but will be in good harmony with meat steaks. For the sauce you need one hundred grams of northern berries - lingonberries and cranberries, as well as 80 g of granulated sugar. Since we are preparing not jam, but gravy for fish, we will include a clove of garlic and fresh or dry herbs (basil, oregano, parsley) in the list of ingredients. Grind the berries in a blender or pass through a meat grinder. Add sugar. To completely dissolve the crystals, warm the berry puree to 60 degrees. Pour herbs and finely chopped clove of garlic. This Finnish gravy must be served separately with the fish in a small gravy boat.
Sea bass with potatoes
We continue to consider recipes for perch in the oven. This prescription is good because we get both the main dish and the side dish for it. Peel five potato tubers. Cut into thin circles. Two bulbs shred rings. In a pan, heat 50 grams of butter. We pass the onion. We need it so that it does not brown, but only loses color and becomes soft. We shift the onions into a baking dish. Cover it with potato mugs. Pour in half a glass of water. We put the form in an oven preheated to 180 degrees. After ten minutes, add two carcasses of fish, cut into portions. Ocean perch in the oven is delicious with creamy tomato sauce. Cooking it is extremely simple. You just need to blot 150 grams of tomato paste in half a glass of cream. Fill this mixture of sea bass. We’ll send it to bake in the oven for 20 minutes. When serving, sprinkle the dish with a chopped green onion.
With mushrooms in sour cream
Cooked with these two ingredients in the oven, the perch is very tasty, fragrant and tender. First you need to grind five peas of allspice and black pepper, a pinch of salt and a chopped ginger root in a mortar. With this mixture of spices, grate the sides of two chopped sea basses well. Pour lemon juice on top and leave the fish to marinate. During this time, chop the onion, peel and chop large 300 grams of champignons. Fry 50 g of butter first onion, and then mushrooms. Now make the sauce. In an incomplete glass of sour cream, pour one hundred grams of cheese and drive an egg into it. Salt and mix well. Now that the sauce is ready, remember the fish. Fry it in vegetable oil for a minute for each side. We need to achieve only a golden crust, and not its full preparation. Lubricate the form with oil. We put onions with mushrooms there. We place the fish. Two or three tomatoes cut into circles. Place them on top of perches. We put the form in the oven, pouring sauce into the dishes. We bake a quarter of an hour at 190 degrees.
Red perch fillet in cream and white wine
We cut two fish. We cut them along the ridge. Gently remove the spine with costal bones. We got four sirloin slices. Sprinkle them with lemon juice and set aside. Two bell peppers (preferably different colors) cut into cubes. Pour white wine so that it slightly covers the vegetable. Wrap the bowl in cling film and warm. Peppers are saturated with wine pairs and become very soft. Strain them and grind in mashed potatoes. Take a bar of butter in 50 grams. We grease them with the walls of the baking dish, we plan the rest and place at the bottom. We spread the fish fillet on top of it. Salt it, sprinkle with spices, pour white wine. It needs to reach the perch fillet. In the oven we put the form covered with foil. We bake eight minutes at 180 degrees. During this time, pepper puree is bred with cream. Their amount is adjustable according to the desired density of the sauce. The juice formed in the form is poured into a creamy gravy. Drive one more egg and a few tablespoons of flour. Stir the sauce and pour it back into the mold. Bake another ten minutes.
"Country" recipe for red perch in the oven
The main key to the success of this dish is brine. It must be certainly from under pickled cucumbers, and not pickled. A country recipe is called because you can add vegetables to your taste in your dish - green peas, tomatoes, cauliflower, green beans or bell peppers. Before baking sea bass in the oven, we chop it and cut into portions. It will take a kilogram of fish. Grind on a coarse grater the roots of one parsley and small celery. Two tomatoes cut into rings. Lubricate the baking dish with butter. We spread the products on the dish in layers, not forgetting to salt each layer. At the bottom we put grated spicy roots, then tomatoes. Cut eight small young onions. This is the third "floor" of our dish. We put fish pieces on the very top. Water with an incomplete glass of cucumber pickle. We put the mold in a stove preheated to 180 degrees and simmer it under the lid for a quarter of an hour. Then we strain out the hot juice and mix it with two tablespoons of flour, a pinch of nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste. Return the sauce back to form. We increase the temperature in the oven to 200 degrees and cook another ten minutes. Serve the dish, sprinkled with parsley.
Fish with rice
This is another recipe for perch baked in the oven with a side dish. You can give a “second life” to the remaining rice porridge or cook 300 grams of cereal until half-cooked. Fish must not only be cut, but also milled. It takes 800 grams of boneless meat. Two hard-boiled eggs finely chopped, 100 g of cheese three. Lubricate the form with oil. Knead rice with cheese. We lay half of this mass at the bottom of the mold. Place fillet on top. Cover with the remaining rice. Sprinkle with eggs. Mix a glass of tomato sauce and 120 milliliters of cream. Pour the sauce into the form, salt the dish. Bake with a quarter of an hour at 200 degrees. Turn off the oven. Pour chopped green basil into the form. Let the dish brew for 10 minutes under the lid.
Sea bass with a crust
If you like breaded fish, then this recipe is for you. Before sending sea bass in the oven, it must be marinated in spices and white wine. Then fry the onion rings in olive oil until soft. Scald the tomatoes, peel them, chop the flesh as finely as possible. Cut dill and parsley. When the perch has absorbed the aromas of wine and spices, we extract it from the marinade, roll in flour and fry in a large amount of vegetable oil until golden brown. We divide onions, tomatoes and greens into two parts. Lubricate the form with olive oil. Lay layers of tomatoes, herbs, onions. Squeeze a clove of garlic, salt. We place the fish. Then we again lay the layers: onions, herbs, tomatoes. Pour the marinade (half a glass). We put in the oven preheated to 240 ° C. We bake for half an hour, regularly watering fish and tomatoes with the allocated juice.
Last few tips
You can safely experiment with a red perch. In the oven, you can bake it both in foil and in uniform, solo or with a side dish, on a “pillow” or under a “blanket” of vegetables. If your oven has an air grill mode, you can use it - then the fish turns out to be especially tasty. And if there is no such program, fry the perch in a pan (with or without breading) until golden brown, and then bring to readiness in the oven.