Pan-fried Sea Bass with Spinach Crisps and a Lemon & Herb Dressing

Sea bass, also known as sea dace, is a type of white fish. You could make fish and chips out of it, grill it, bake it or pan-fry it as I have. It is really easy to eat either way, because it hardly contains any bones. I've paired this fish with Spinach Crisps, which is a whole side on its own, if you'd like to just make that! I also used just lemon juice for the dressing so that the natural sweetness of the fish doesn't disappear amongst other heavier flavours.

For the hungrier people here, add some potatoes alongside your sea bass.

(Here's a link to German Parsley Potatoes that I think go really well with this meal. Link: http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=german+parsley+potatoes)

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INGREDIENTS:

• A fillet of sea bass

• A handful of parsley and thyme, enough to coat the fish

• A sprinkle of Himalayan pink salt/sea salt

• Half a lemon, and a slice of lemon

• A small knob of butter

• About 10 tablespoonfuls of canola/vegetable oil, enough to fill up a deep-frying pot to a 1cm height

• About 10 or more spinach leaves, washed, with the roots cut off

• About a 1/2 cup of beer/soda

• A teaspoon of baking soda

• 4 heaps of tablespoonfuls of all-purpose flour

METHOD:

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the flour with baking soda and slowly pour in the beer. Stir until it becomes a pancake-mix-like consistency. Add more/less beer accordingly. This becomes your beer batter.

2. Add the spinach to the batter.

3. Heat a pot with the canola oil or a deep fryer.

4. Meanwhile, season the fish with herbs, salt and pepper.

5. Once the oil is hot enough (test with a small drop of batter), fry your spinach leaves one by one. Once the batter becomes golden and crisp, leave the spinach to drain on a rack or kitchen towel.

6. In a frying pan, melt the knob of butter.

7. When the pan is hot, place the sea bass skin-side down. Leave it and do not flip for at least 2 minutes, or until the skin becomes crisp.

8. Then, cook on the other side for another 2-3 minutes. While it is still cooking, squeeze the juice of half a lemon onto the pan and let it sizzle.

9. Use a skewer to check if you can poke through the fish easily to make sure it is fully cooked.

Assembly

Place the sea bass on a plate and pour the lemon juice from the pan over it. Then place the spinach crisps on top and serve immediately.

Chelsea Ho

The Ordinary Gourmet

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