Article: How to cook a whole sea bass
How to cook a whole sea bass
A whole sea bass roasts in about twenty minutes at 200C, the skin crisps and the bones keep the flesh sweet and moist. It is one of the simplest whole fish to cook at home and the method carries straight over to bream, red mullet and small mackerel. Ask us to scale, gut and score your bass at the counter free.
Ingredients
- 1 whole sea bass per person, 400 to 500g, scaled and gutted (ask the counter, free)
- 1 small fennel bulb, sliced thin, fronds saved
- 1 unwaxed lemon, half in rounds and half for the plate
- a small handful of thyme, dill or flat-leaf parsley
- 1 clove garlic, sliced thin (optional)
- olive oil, flaky sea salt and black pepper
Method
- Heat the oven to 200C fan 180C, gas 6 and give it time to come fully up. Scatter the sliced fennel over a lightly oiled tray so the fish sits off the metal and the skin crisps rather than steams.
- Pat the fish dry inside and out. Dry skin is what crisps. Cut three or four shallow diagonal slashes through the skin on each side.
- Rub all over with olive oil and season generously, working a little into the cuts and the belly.
- Fill the cavity with the lemon rounds, herbs, fennel fronds and garlic. The lemon steams the flesh from inside while the herbs scent it around the bone.
- Roast in the middle of the oven for 18 to 22 minutes. A 400g fish is done at 18 and a plumper 500g fish wants the full 22. No turning and no basting.
- Check at the thickest point behind the head. The flesh should be opaque rather than glassy and pull cleanly off the backbone when probed with a knife tip. If it clings, give it 2 to 3 minutes more.
- Rest for 3 to 4 minutes, then run a knife along the spine, lift the top fillet, remove the backbone and free the second fillet.
To serve: A squeeze of lemon, a thread of olive oil and new potatoes or a green salad is all it wants. Order by 1pm for next-day delivery or collect in Barnes in about two hours.
Shop this recipe: sea bass and what is on the counter today. Scaled, gutted and scored at the counter, free.
