Sea Bass with Beurre Blanc (pan-seared)
Sea bass with beurre blanc is a restaurant-worthy meal that couldn’t be easier to make. A superb fish, sea bass is lean, mild, and versatile. This sea bass recipe calls for pan-searing, yielding a crispy skin while preserving a firm, succulent interior in a matter of minutes. Served with a luscious and smooth beurre blanc sauce, it’s a shockingly simple yet refined pairing that’ll tickle your taste buds.
Equipment
- 1 Stainless steel pan
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Fine mesh sieve
- 1 Small pot
Ingredients
Sea Bass
- 2 sea bass fillets see notes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 15 ml (1 tablespoon) sunflower Oil see notes
Beurre Blanc
- 1/2 glass white wine
- 15 ml (1 tablespoon) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 15 ml (1 tablespoon) white wine vinegar
- 1 shallot or small onion finely minced
- lemon zest to taste
- 125 g (8 tablespoons) butter cubed
- diced chives for garnish
Instructions
Sea Bass
- Preheat the oven to 50 degrees Celsius / 120 degrees Fahrenheit
- Preheat the pan over medium to medium-high heat, preferably stainless steel or cast-iron. Once the pan is hot, add the cooking oil. Keep in mind, the oil will heat fast. (see notes)
- Pat dry the sea bass to absorb any remaining moisture.
- Add the sea bass to the pan. Once you see wisps of smoke rising from the oil, place the fish in the pan skin-side down (or where the skin used to be). Once in the pan, press down on the fish with a spatula or a weight for about 10 seconds. As the fish skin will inherently curl up when touching the hot pan, this will ensure the skin makes maximum contact with the pan while it cooks.
- Cook the fish about 95% of the way through, about 4-5 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets. The bottom of the fish should begin to caramelize while the meat should be mostly white, with just a few hints of pink in the middle. At this point, using a fish spatula, flip the fish, let the other side “kiss” the pan, and turn the heat off. The non-skin side of the fish only needs a few seconds in order to finish cooking.
- Remove the fish from the pan and place in the preheated oven. Because the temperature of the oven is lower than the fish, the fish won’t continue to cook.
Beurre Blanc
- Preheat the pan. In the same pan as the fish, discard the oil and wipe out any excess. Place the pan on medium-high heat.
- Add the shallot, white wine, white wine vinegar, and lemon juice, and bring to a boil. Reduce the mixture until there’s about 1-2 tablespoons of liquid left in the pan. Whisk in the lemon zest.
- Whisk in butter (one cube at a time). Drop the heat to low and whisk in one cube of butter. Whisk the butter until it’s fully emulsified. Add another cube and continue whisking until it’s emulsified. Continue this way until you’ve added all the butter, whisking constantly the entire time. The sauce should be thick and creamy and coat the back of a spoon. (see notes)
- Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a small pot (optional)
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
* Can’t find sea bass? I’ve tested this recipe on cod and tilapia (both skin off) with equally delicious results. Cod can be quite delicate, though. So follow the same procedure of pre seasoning 1-2 hours prior to cooking and absorbing all moisture from the fish. But, with cod, lightly flour the fish just before searing to better avoid any issue of sticking.
* I use sunflower oil in this recipe due to its higher smoke point, but avocado oil and canola oil would work, as well. I’ve even used extra virgin olive oil with excellent results. It’s true that extra virgin olive oil’s lower smoke point makes other oils a better choice for searing. But these fillets cook seriously fast, avoiding any major issue with smoke and burning. Just keep in mind, depending on the thickness of the fillets and your budget, you may prefer a sturdier, more budget-friendly oil.
* There are a few keys to cooking fish in a stainless steel pan - medium high heat, hot pan, dry fish, and time. If you’re not sure whether the pan is hot enough, before adding the cooking oil, drop a teaspoon of water into the pan. If it bubbles and steams, it isn’t hot enough. Wait another minute. Drop another teaspoon of water into the pan. It should glide around the surface like a ball of mercury. Now add the cooking oil, and when you see wisps of smoke rising from the oil, add the fish.
* For the beurre blanc sauce, too much heat can break the sauce. Keep it low and steady. Adding too much butter at once can prevent the sauce from emulsifying, so add the butter one cube at a time. Stir constantly to maintain emulsion. All said and done, this beurre blanc came together in about 15 minutes.