Oh, and yes, I know, Patagonian Toothfish. So now that we have that out of the way…
My special friend is coming over for dinner this weekend and thought I’d make Chilean sea bass. Does anyone have any great recipes? I was thinking of steaming it with Asian ingredients (soy, ginger, cilantro), but given that her dad used to own a Chinese restaurant, maybe not the most creative preparation.
Any great ideas/recipes welcome, including what to serve as sides.
Back when I was cooking it I liked to dust it with Wondra and pan sear until I got a crispy finish, then serve it with butter & a squeeze of lime. For sides: mashed potatoes and fresh peas; maybe a salad.
I never heard of Wondra before (apparently a type of flour). Do you typically sear just one side?
I was thinking about steaming, partly because I worry about overcooking the fish.
Posting from my phone so not sure how format will turn out. This recipie is great the Tabasco adds depth super fast and simple
Leave the skin on the pears for a pretty presentation and to keep the fruit from falling apart.
INGREDIENTS
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup water
2 bay leaves
⅛ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 lemon, thinly sliced
4 (4–5) ounce sea bass steaks or fillets
2 firm pears, cored and cut in half
1 tablespoon butter
In large skillet, combine wine, water, bay leaves, salt, Tabasco, and lemon slices. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
Add fish and pears. Reduce heat to low and poach for 9–12 minutes or until fish flakes when tested with a fork.
Remove fish and pears to serving platter.
Remove bay leaves from poaching liquid and increase heat to high. Boil for 3–5 minutes or until liquid is reduced and syrupy. Swirl in butter and pour over fish and pears; serve immediately.
I sear top & bottom. You don’t have to use Wondra; regular AP flour works ok. This fish is pretty resilient, so overcooking is hardly ever a problem. I like the crust approach over steaming, but that’s a personal preference.
Bill’s recipe looks interesting.
Tabasco/pear/wine is a really interesting concept. Could be great.
Wrap it in tin foil - with a bunch of sliced sweet onions, cherry tomatoes, fresh lemon slices, and lots of fresh dill. Salt and pepper - a couple of pats of butter - douse with white wine. Can prep in oven or on the grill. Light and very flavorful.
I have made this many times and always blow people away.
The sake kasu (lees of rice wine) is critical, do NOT skip it.
The accompanying sauce is also very good. I top the fish with wilted basil, and serve with wild rice and garlic sauteed broccolini.
Let me try to be tactful here instead of being my usual rude self and say that these recipes with countless ingredients are the reason I don’t eat the Toothfish (or halibut for that matter) as a rule. In order to taste like something it seems to me that the fish has to be swimming (pun intended) in some sort of complex sauce rather than being able to stand on its own like, say, salmon or swordfish. Am I off base here?
Bob,
CSB is very rich and has a wonderful texture. It’s nit a strongly flavored fish, but It’s not like, say orange roughy, that has very little flavor and a relatively ho-hum texture.
I don’t buy it often because for a while it was overfished and it’s pretty damned expensive (around $20/pound).
Is it not overfished anymore? i read that it’s overfished and have high mercury levels… myths?
b/c i love CSB… but haven’t had any for a while…
I know you don’t want standard Chinese, but how about Japanese? Classic miso black cod prep works great with this fish. Other than that I usually just pan-roast and serve with a white wine caper reduction.
I was about to post a very similar suggestion: Lemon, capers, butter, garlic, white wine & parsley. This is a great way to eat fish that has mild flavor and must not not be overcooked. I like it with halibut, mahi-mahi, lingcod and others. Great with the fish you are planning to cook. Very easy to make too!
I actually made veal piccata a couple weeks ago, which is a very similar prep. I like the concept of miso too – I’ll see which fish looks better when I visit the local fishmonger.
Cooks illustrated suggest that this is a fish that you want “well done” I like the wondra crust and a mango salsa. Or grilled over charcoal after a marinade of EVOO garlic & lemon.
Yes. There are complex recipes for all kinds of fish and CSB is dyn-o-mite with just s/p on the grill. In fact the greatest fish sandwich I ever had was CSB pan seared in butter and topped with coleslaw on a toasted brioche bun. With CSB it is a texture and richness that is unmatched, whereas the ones you mention are more of a flavor thing until you get into the really high end salmons where texture can pick up a bit.
Overall CSB is very similar to black cod, and is treated almost equivalent. Black cod tends to have just a bit more punch in the fishy oil department.
The recipe I posted is actually not that complex at all if you dismiss the sauce (which I do modify highly or delete). It is essentially a miso marinade that is enhanced by sake kasu (and the marinade is washed off prior to cooking). Depending on marinade time, this can be a very delicate flavor addition, or a very rich addition that does not obscure the fish but gives great depth of flavor to underpin the fatty fish. I have even succesfully incorporated white miso marinades into mediterranean fish dishes that diners would have been none the wiser had I said nothing, it can be a subtle dimension.
+1
This is a great way to do CSB or black cod. Also Salmon. It also works fine with lees from Sauvignon Blanc, should anyone have that around at certain times of the year. It can keep in the fridge for quite some time in the marinade.
It’s still listed as a fish to “avoid” by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch. They note:
Consumers wishing to purchase MSC-certified Chilean seabass must be very careful. All restaurants and grocery stores that sell MSC products are required to have the MSC “Chain of Custody” certification. Legitimate purveyors should be able to produce this document when consumers ask. If the certificate is not available, assume the fish is not certified and don’t make the purchase.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=11
I tried this myself - Seabass with Sorrel sauce. It is pretty simple and the recipe can be found here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztJ_qC8-9I8
Credits to Gordon Ramsay, of course.