Another Sea Bass Recipe - with ginger and spring onions

Why is it that I find myself cooking more bass than any other fish?  I think in part it's because it is such a handsome fish - sleak, athletic and silver skinned.  But also, I love that texture the meat has - I can only describe it as possessing 'toothiness'.  While much white fish offers little resistance to the teeth, a good thick fillet of bass demands to be bitten, chewed and savoured.

In summer, sea bass for me is all about fennel (see an example recipe from last year) but at this time of the year (despite the fennel being good at the moment) there are other flavours it can work with. One of Rick Stein's dishes is his sublime sea bass with vanilla butter sauce - sounds odd but is terrific.  Another classic combination for me is the Chinese flavours of spring onion and ginger with bass.

Previously, when I've cooked bass with spring onion and ginger, I've done it in a fairly classic way - steam the fish and fry the flavourings, pouring the hot oil over the fish.  This time, I decided to try it the other way around - fry the fish and poach the onion/ginger mix.  I think this recipe is a faithful rendition of what we ate a few weeks back - but I'm still missing my Little Black Book.  It worked pretty well, but I think in reterospect, the fish would have been better char-grilled. 

The beauty of grilling bass fillets on a cast-iron griddle pan is that there is a natural break in the flesh - about a third down from the 'top' (ie spine) - where you can gently prise the fish apart without breaking it and see how well cooked the fillet is.

Sea Bass with Ginger & Spring Onions - served with stir-fried vegetables and noodles

(serves 2)
For the fish:
2 large or  4 smaller fillets of  fresh sea bass (preferably line caught)
A little oil for brushing the fish
Salt & pepper

For the sauce:
1/2 pint fish stock
2 tablespoons rice wine/dry sherry
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 star anise
2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and very finely diced
4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

First, the sauce - put the stock, rice wine/sherry, soy sauce, star anise and half the ginger in a small saucepan to reduce by about a third or a half.  When reduced, fish out the star anise and discard.  Add the remaining ginger and the spring onion and allow to simmer gently.

Now, put the griddle pan on a high heat and let it get really hot - one of my biggest failings in the kitchen lies in not getting pans hot enough before I use them.
Make sure the fish is dry on both sides.  Lightly brush the skin side with oil and season with salt and pepper.  Lay the fillets on the hot griddle pan skin-side down.  Press down with a fish slice to ensure even cooking.  Cook for about a minute, quickly brush the flesh-side with oil and season.  Turn the fillets and cook for about another 30 seconds - that's all!  Remove the fish from the pan.

Serve on top of stir fried vegetables (pak choi, mushrooms, peppers etc) and noodles - the quite thick noodles work well here.  Evenly spoon the spring onion and ginger sauce over the fish.  

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