Sea Bass

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BBQ Mikey

Sous Chef
Joined
May 4, 2007
Messages
750
Location
USA
So the other day I went out to eat with some friends, and a friend of mine and myself split a few dishes, the main course was Sea Bass served on spinach. It was pan-seared in the way one would do scallops, and had some type of sweet soy sauce to it, pot sticker or perhaps something more acute.

Anyway, it was delicious, unlike any fish I've ever tasted. To me it was reminiscent of scallops but far more delicate and delicious.

It was an EXPENSIVE dish, over the 25$/plate mark. I want to start making it for myself on special occassion (once every month or two) but I havent seen it in any grocers here (Philadephia Suburbs).

Anyone have any advice on where or when to find/how to prepare, and what a reasonable price is. TIA!
 
Spinach you say? If I made that recipe, I would do without it. I like it by itself with butter and salt, almost like Popeye, who has it plain out of a can.
 
yeah me too, it was just something to make it look nice, like the fish was served on top of spinach leaves for presentation mainly. i dunno it was a upper scale chinese place.
 
:) Its hard to find as it is being over fished so there are limits on fishing.The USA is allowed a total of 20% of the total limit so it must be certified legal therefor really expensive.Its real name is a (Catagonian?)Tooth Fish caught in the deep cold waters off of Chili it takes many,many years for these fish to reach maturity.I know there are several varieties of fish that are very similiar just cant think of which ones right now.I love,love ,love sea bass so meaty,mild and delicious.MMMMMM!
 
jpmcgrew said:
:) Its hard to find as it is being over fished so there are limits on fishing.The USA is allowed a total of 20% of the total limit so it must be certified legal therefor really expensive.Its real name is a (Catagonian?)Tooth Fish caught in the deep cold waters off of Chili it takes many,many years for these fish to reach maturity.I know there are several varieties of fish that are very similiar just cant think of which ones right now.I love,love ,love sea bass so meaty,mild and delicious.MMMMMM!

Well thanks for the info pal. I must say it was something else, my friend knows alot about food and suggested we order it because its something "you don't really get a chance to eat very much at all" and I didnt understand why at the time.
 
:) Some places offer sea bass which is not the real Chilean Sea Bass but some other variety.I just had some fresh Halibut at the ranch that was very very close to sea bass.I just rememered its not Catagonian but Patagonian.OOPs?
 
keltin said:
The odd thing is, there is more than one fish that sports the name of “Sea Bass”.

Atlantic Ocean: Giant Sea Bass

Pacific Ocean: Black Sea Bass

Southern Ocean (Antarctica): Chilean Sea Bass


Yes there are different types of "sea bass."

What you probably had was black sea bass which is pretty common in restaurants and fish markets and fished all along the Atlantic coast (not Pacific -- keltin's link even points to the Commonwealth of MA website).

Look for it in really good fish markets. But recall that most types of fish have particular seasons for harvesting.

"Chilean" sea bass is really a Patagonian Toothfish.
 
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jennyema said:
"Chilean" sea bass is really a Patagonian Toothfish.

What a name that is....toothfish. The more you say it, the odder it seems. :)

I imagined it MUST be an ugly fish........YESSIR it is! :shock:

Toothfish.

Scroll down to the bottom of that page that is linked to see the picture. You might want to scroll slowly as the image suddenly popping up on your monitor might be a bit startling! :)

Hard to believe something so ugly can taste good! A true case of not judging a book by its cover.

Edited to add:
Whoops, I just noticed my original post swapped the locations for the black sea bass and the giant sea bass. It’s fixed now.
 
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Hm, starnge. Here in MN where you do not see much of any fish, the sea bass is available in regular groccery store. i love it. If prpered proparly it is delicioso.
 
Well I finally found some in a grocery store slightly further away.

Its frozen and is priced at 25.99 lb. They have them in "steaks" all priced at 9.99 and they look pretty good.

I was thinking of pan searing and serving it with a lemony concoction on Friday.

Heres my recipe I plan to use (i just made it up) if something is glaringly wrong with my method please tell.

Pan Seared Zesty Lemon SeaBass

Take SeaBass out of freezer, run under cool water approx 20 minutes or until thawed.

Prepare skillet with 1 tbsp. cooking oil. Bring to simmer.
Season Sea Bass Cuts with salt, paprika, lemon zest and pepper.
Sear both sides until slightly brown.
Set oven temp. to 250 (home oven), cook for approx. 5 minutes.
Garnish with Lemon Grass, add a dash of lemon juice, serve ontop of Fresh Spring Mix Salad (lightly tossed in raspberry vinagerette.
 
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BBQ Mikey said:
Well I finally found some in a grocery store slightly further away.

Its frozen and is priced at 25.99 lb. They have them in "steaks" all priced at 9.99 and they look pretty good.

I was thinking of pan searing and serving it with a lemony concoction on Friday.

Heres my recipe I plan to use (i just made it up) if something is glaringly wrong with my method please tell.

Pan Seared Zesty Lemon SeaBass

Take SeaBass out of freezer, run under cool water approx 20 minutes or until thawed.

Prepare skillet with 1 tbsp. cooking oil. Bring to simmer.
Season Sea Bass Cuts with salt, paprika, lemon zest and pepper.
Sear both sides until slightly brown.
Set oven temp. to 250 (home oven), cook for approx. 5 minutes.
Garnish with Lemon Grass, add a dash of lemon juice, serve ontop of Fresh Spring Mix Salad (lightly tossed in raspberry vinagerette.

1. You need more fat. 1 Tbsp. is not enough to get a good sear on the fish, especially in this instance. Use at least 3-4 Tbsp. for a standard 12" saute pan, and when the oil starts to smoke, add the fish. Do not move the fish once you add it to the pan. It will release on it's own when it's ready.

2. You may as well finish cooking the fish on the burner if you're going to set your oven temp. for that low. Set your oven for 400 F if you're planning on finishing it in the oven. Sea bass cooks fairly quickly so once you get your oil hot and smoking and add the fish to the pan, you can then turn your heat down and cook it without having to transfer the fish to the oven. Cook it 70% of the way on the first side and 30% on the other when you flip it.

3. I probably wouldn't pair sea bass with raspberry vinegar. It doesn't have the body to hold up to the flavors in that particular vinaigrette. Sea bass is good paired with acid, but the acid you want to use would be citrus, capers, olives, etc. Any vinaigrette paired with sea bass needs to be light in acid or else it will totally overpower the flavor of the fish.
 
Good stuff IC per usual. I honestly dont know what to do with the salad but I think a spring mix would be good paired with the sea bass. Perhaps I can find a really light citrus vinegarette or perhaps cast aside any formal dressing and just add a few dashes of lime juice instead.

As for cooking, I was browsing through some recipes and many called for a pan sear finished in the oven. I just want to make sure its cooked properly and not overdone, and since none had an oven temp I was pretty much guessing what a good temp was as not to overdo the fish. I suppose I will cook the fish in a similar manner that I do scallops, I had Sea Bass again recently and it was pulled off the skillet prematurely and suffered in presentation, it was alittle choppy to say the least.

thanks for the gracious input, i am fairly new to "real" cooking, being a young buck, so I will take heed to any and all advice more experience chefs have to offer.
 
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Here's a basic one from my culinary schools days that is close to the flavor you're looking for with the lemon. LOL I remember doing this dish at the school's restaurant.

Pan Seared Sea Bass with Lemon-Caper Sauce

Yield: 4 servings

4 ea., 7 oz. sea bass fillets
Kosher Salt
White Pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 tablespoons butter
12 oz. Assorted vegetables: baby carrots, turnips, asparagus, baby zucchini, baby summer squash, etc.; blanched in salted water
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup chopped lemon sections and juice (no rind just pulp)
parsley
chives
tarragon
2 tablespoons capers


1. Pre-heat oven to 400°F.
2. Sauté vegetables with 3 tbsp. butter over medium-high heat until just soft but still al dente. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Season fillets with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter and sear fillets over high heat until golden brown, skin side down first, about 2 minutes on first side and 1 minute on second. Transfer to a sheet pan and cook in oven until fish is cooked through. Add shallots to pan and cook until translucent. Deglaze with wine, lemon juice, and lemon segments and reduce by half. Add remaining butter, parsley, chives tarragon, and capers. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Plate rice pilaf with mold. Place vegetables next to pilaf and fish slightly on the veg. Sauce on top of fish and around plate.
 
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According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium seafood watch sea bass should be avoided at all costs,I am suprised that any reputable Chef is still serving it.
 
Mahco said:
According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium seafood watch sea bass should be avoided at all costs,I am suprised that any reputable Chef is still serving it.

Not all sea bass needs to be avoided. Even the same species of sea bass(or ANY other type of seafood) can be fine depending on WHERE and HOW it was caught. For example: salmon. Farmed salmon is on their "avoid" list while Alaskan wild salmon is on their "best choice" list. Or halibut. Atlantic halibut = avoid, Pacific halibut = best choice. By your logic, all salmon and halibut should be avoided since part of the species is on the seafood watch "avoid" list.

Get your facts straight before you start posting misinformation.
 
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Chilean sea bass is just incredibly delicious--and I have had to give it up because of the overfishing and honoring the boycott of it. BUT there are quotas and if you buy it in very reputable stores such as Whole Foods, they will certify that it has been harvested under the quota system. It will be VERY pricey--maybe $25/lb. I have had other types of bass at restaurants and they can also be very tasty.
I did the same with swordfish when it was asked to boycott it in restaurants. I think it has been removed from the "endangered" or "pressured" list now.
 
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