Fine and light in the performance of dishes from sea bass (or pike perch, or sea bass) today are quite accessible to all home cooks. I must say, sea bass recipes were hidden somewhere in the old culinary tomes until quite recently, when professionals, restaurant chefs rediscovered for themselves and the regulars its sweet, textured flesh. Since then, it has become a trendy fish served in restaurants, considered a delicacy. And seafood sellers followed this example, and now supermarkets sell it along with the ubiquitous salmon and salmon. And recipes for sea bass have become an integral highlight for many cuisines.
A little about the fish itself
Its names are used such as sea wolf, sea bass, sea bass, sea pike perch or sea bass, lubina, brancino, spigola, ranyo, and lavraka. Fish is widespread in the Atlantic Ocean from Norway to Senegal; it is found both in the Mediterranean and in the Black Sea. It keeps near the coast, young individuals in packs, large ones go alone. An analogue of the American laurel, which grows to half a meter. Sea bass feeds on mollusks, crustaceans, and fish. The length of some individuals reaches a meter.
In Europe, sea bass is a valuable commercial and actively cultivated fish. Laurel is bred in natural reservoirs and artificial pools with sea water. Artificially grown sea bass coming to the markets is usually smaller and cheaper than wild.
What you need to know when buying a sea bass
Buy fresh sea bass, if possible, fresh. Ideally, many authentic seabass recipes are designed for just that. And it should be bought when it is fresh, to look for fish with obscure eyes, intact ribs and bright red gills, elastic to the touch, free from the obsessive fishy smell.
It is more difficult to determine how fresh the sea bass fillet is - but in this case, choose a pearl-white pulp without a changed color. The average sea bass weighs about a pound. A larger seabass is, as a rule, wild sea bass, which has managed to develop well both in size and in taste. It costs more and can be purchased from small suppliers and traders of fresh fish.
Freshly frozen sea bass (and its fillet) are sold mainly in supermarkets. Check the implementation deadlines and track the freshness of the appearance of the product. And when you get home, the carcass or pulp should be thawed naturally - that is, not in the microwave or under hot water: this will lose the structure and appearance (as well as some taste) of the valuable seafood.
General Provisions
Recipes for making sea bass are not very complicated. Fillet or whole carcass is suitable for many methods of heat treatment of fish. Therefore, recipes for seabass in the oven in the foil should not cause any difficulties even for not too experienced home cooks.
Sea bass has sharp ribs and a layer of scales that must be removed before cooking. The skin can also be removed (if specified in the recipe for sea bass in the oven), but chefs usually leave it - this is an excellent source of nutrients. In addition, the skin when cooking in the oven takes on a wonderful color and texture.
“Salty” sea bass in the oven: recipe with photo
Baking in salt is the most uncomplicated but excellent way to cook whole sea bass. The salt crust acts in a sealing manner, so the fish becomes fragrant and tasty, but not salty (takes salt as needed). Make sure that the sea bass was gutted with gills removed - as they will add a bitter taste.
We will need: a few carcasses (pre-gutted and peeled), a pack of coarse salt (it is advisable to take sea food - it is now sold everywhere), a baking dish, lemon, dill, spices - your favorites according to individual preferences.
We proceed further simply. Rub the washed fish with spices, fill with slices of chopped lemon, you can with sprigs of dill. Pour salt into the baking dish. Then we lay the fish and cover it with a “blanket” of salt from above. We put on a baking sheet in the oven, preheated to 180 Celsius.
Bake in salt crust until the product is ready - about half an hour. Then we take out the baking sheet from the oven and break the crust of salt, taking out the fish. We spread the sea bass in portions on plates and serve with a side dish of vegetables or mashed potatoes.
And if so try?
Other methods for preparing whole sea bass include, for example, grilling, barbecue or baking in the oven in foil. When using these methods, it is often recommended that the fish be tightly wrapped in foil, this ensures that the meat does not dry during cooking. The taste can be improved by adding other ingredients, such as olive oil, herbs, vegetables or citrus fruits.
Alternatively, try building a filling with the ingredients of your choice. Often recommended, for example, lemon and fennel, tomatoes, Provencal herbs.
Fillet
Today you can buy fillet of sea bass everywhere, mainly in frozen form. The “bass” fillet is elastic, but it is stable in texture during cooking. A frying pan is probably the most popular cooking method chosen by many respected chefs. But the sea bass pulp can also be prepared by steaming or even serving raw, like carpaccio, on the table. Alternatively, you can fry perch fillet in batter or dough to preserve its delicate flavor.
Sea bass baked in foil: recipe with photo
For this simple dish, we need the following ingredients: 4 tablespoons of butter, salt and freshly ground pepper, medium onion, spinach, 4 skinless sea bass fillet - about 1.5 kilograms, a little dry white wine. And you can start cooking.
- Preheat the oven to 180-200 ° C. Tear off four pieces of foil. A generous spoon of softened butter is placed in the center of each sheet of foil torn off by a square. Place the spinach in the center of the sheets and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chopped onions. A piece of fillet from each sea bass flavored with salt and pepper, place on spinach. Throw some more grated oil over the fish. Pull the sides of the foil around the fish and moisten the fillet with wine. Fold the edges of the foil so that sealed envelopes or boats come out - whoever you like to call.
- Put the envelopes on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the fish is cooked. Transfer one of the foil envelopes to the medium capacity. Carefully make a small incision in the corner and pour the juice into a bowl. Repeat the same operation with the three remaining boats. Now this simple recipe for sea bass in foil can be considered fully implemented. Using a spatula, transfer the fish and spinach to small plates in portions, pour the juice on the side dish (they can be boiled rice or young potatoes) and serve to the table.
With tomatoes in the oven
To prepare this dish we need: 4 small tomatoes (cut in half); 1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped; 1 tablespoon of olive oil plus an additional amount for serving; salt with pepper; 2 seabass fillets; sliced lemon; sprigs of rosemary; seasonings for fish (to taste and personal preference).
Cooking process
- Preheat the oven to 180-200 degrees.
- Place the halves of the tomatoes on a baking sheet. Put on them slices of garlic, pour half the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the tomatoes in a preheated oven and fry for 15 minutes.
- Put the seabass fillet on a large sheet of foil. Place on top a slice of lemon and a sprig of rosemary on each fillet, season with the remaining oil and seal the foil in envelopes. Then place the foil boats in the oven and continue roasting with the tomatoes for 8 minutes or until the fish is ready.
- Serve the sea bass with tomatoes, optionally sprinkled with a drop of olive oil.
On a pillow of vegetables
In principle, it’s quite simple to bake this fish on a pillow of vegetables, again, in the oven. Here you have to tinker a bit longer than with the previous recipe for sea bass. It will take a pound of fillet, several tomatoes, several medium-sized potatoes, an onion, a couple of cloves of garlic, 150 grams of grated hard cheese, a spoonful of olive oil, spices with spices and salt.
Simple cooking!
To bake sea bass according to this recipe, pour a spoonful of oil at the bottom of the oven dish. We lay the peeled and cut potatoes in circles on the plane of the form. Top - sliced tomatoes. Then onion. The next layer is sea bass fillet. Flavor with spices and send to the preheated oven. And 5-7 minutes before cooking, sprinkle with grated cheese and again send to the oven until it melts. The dish is ready. You can serve to the table.