800gsea bass fillet, or other white fish of your choice, I prefer skin on
olive oil, for frying the fish
salt and pepper
Tomato salad
600gcherry tomatoes, cut into 1 cm cubes
½red onion, finely chopped
15gcoriander (cilantro), finely chopped
2tspsumac, optional
3Tbsplemon juice
3Tbspextra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Tahini sauce
60mljuice drained from the cherry tomatoes, see instructions
60gtahini
salt and pepper
How I make it
Prepare the tomatoes: Mix the cherry tomatoes, red onion and a little salt. Set aside for 20-30 minutes.
Make the tahini sauce: Drain 60 ml/¼ cup of the juices from the tomatoes. Mix the tomato juice with tahini and 1 Tbsp lemon juice. Season (if necessary).
Finish the tomato salad: Mix the tomatoes and onion with the coriander, sumac, 2 Tbsp lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.
Fry the fish: When everything else is ready, make small incisions through the skin side of the sea bass at about ½ cm (⅕ in) intervals. This allows the fish to cook more evenly and prevents it from curling up too much. Season the fish and heat 2-3 tbsp olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Fry the fish, skin side down, until almost cooked through, around 2-3 minutes. Use your fingers or a utensil to keep the fish down until it relaxes and no longer curls up. When almost cooked through, take off the heat and flip the fish. Leave to finish cooking in the residual heat, this usually takes less than a minute.
Serve immediately, skin side up, with the tahini sauce, tomato salad and any other sides you’re serving.
Tips & notes
Using other types of white fish
If using a large piece of white fish, such as cod, I prefer to bast it in a little olive oil before roasting it in a 160 C (320 F) oven until it flakes, anything from 5-6 to 10-12 minutes or more, depending on the size of the fillets and their temperature when going into the oven.
If your fillet has the skin on, fry as per main instructions above for three minutes with skin side down, then flip and transfer to the oven (remembering to transfer the fillets to a roasting pan if your pan isn’t oven proof).
How to fillet sea bass
If you’ve bought whole sea bass and wonder how you can turn your beautiful fish into fillets, I found this video by Jamie Oliver very instructive. It’s actually not difficult at all if you’re a bit careful!
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