Pan Seared Sea Bass

Pan Seared Sea Bass Recipe

This recipe for pan-seared sea bass will show you how to cook sea bass fillets in a skillet. It will also give a simple recipe for a buttery lemon, herb and garlic sauce to accompany the crispy fish. I use the same method here to cook the fillets as I would also use for mackerel, as it gives the fish a nice crispy finish, which I like.

Serve up with some nice new potatoes and some greens for a perfect healthy supper.

Sea Bass

In Ireland, we have access to the European Bass, which is a well known fighting fish and considered a great catch off our plentiful shores. Bass can be caught off the shore and are known as a delicious eating fish. The fish has a white flesh and is silver in colour.

We can buy fresh sea bass fillets locally in our Aldi store, and they really are very tasty.

In the USA, you may see references to Chilean Sea bass, which is actually a Patagonian Toothfish, and is no relation to the Sea Bass. The name ‘Chilean Sea Bass’ was apparently invented by a fish wholesaler, who wanted to sell more fish. How these Chilean Sea Bass taste, I do not know, as I have never tried them, but if it is anything like the European Bass then this recipe must work for them too.

Fishing for Bass

As a teenager, I remember fishing for sea bass off the shore in Cornwall in the West of England. We would fish the tide up using strips of mackerel or a sandeel as bait, with a 4-pint container of HSD (Hicks Special Draught, St. Austell Ales) from the Logan Rock Pub to keep us company. 

Many a night was spent watching the surf from the beach, but I do not remember ever catching very much. They are a hard fish to catch, but the patience is well worth the wait.

What to serve with sea bass?

When David Cameron toured Europe in June 2015 desperately trying to avoid having to have a Brexit referendum, he was reportedly fed sea bass and grilled or roasted asparagus by several of his hosts for a week. So it would seem that is the logical green to serve up with these fillets.

I added some new potatoes cooked baked in the oven and it was perfection! 

I hope you enjoy making this dish. Please let me know how you get on in the comments section below!

How to cook pan-seared sea bass

Pan Seared Sea Bass

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This pan-seared Sea Bass with a buttery lemon and herb sauce is a great way to cook this beautiful white fish. Serve up with some new potatoes and asparagus. Wonderful!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 Sea Bass fillets
• 20g butter
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• Salt & Pepper
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 50ml dry white wine
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp fresh coriander (finely chopped)
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley (finely chopped)
• Some extra butter for the sauce
• 80ml vegetable stock

Instructions

1. Season the flour with salt and pepper to taste (I use about 1/2 tsp of salt and freshly ground pepper).
2. Dry the sea bass fillets with some kitchen paper and coat them on both sides with the flour mixture.
3. Melt the butter in a skillet together with the olive oil. Then add the fish fillets and saute for between 3-4 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the fillet, cooking the scaled side first.
4. Meanwhile, finely chop the parsley and coriander and remove the thyme leaves from their stalks. Prepare the vegetable stock.
5. Remove the fish from the pan and place on a heated plate. Then rinse the pan and place back on the hob.
6. Add the white wine and simmer until reduced. Then add a knob of butter and mix in the minced garlic. Then add the hot stock and bring to a simmer. Add the lemon juice and the herbs and simmer until the sauce has reduced sufficiently.
7. Pour the lemon sauce over the fish and serve up with some vegetables.

Notes

Serve the fish up with some new potatoes and some greens, like asparagus or green beans.

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• 
  Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet 

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 336Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 75mgSodium: 420mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 26g

This nutrition information was automatically calculated by Nutritionix, but may not be 100% accurate.

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