What a GREAT way to cook a whole sea bass! It’s moist and brings a hint of an elegant citrusy flavour. Cooked in 30 minutes.
I learned this recipe from cookbook MEZCLA: Recipes to Excite, in which the sea bass is served with a tangerine dipping sauce and wrapped in lettuce to eat. I only took inspiration from part of it and simplified into this version below.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Easy. Gutted and scaled whole sea bass is widely available in many supermarkets in the UK. Simply stuff with scallions and herbs, then bake with citrusy melted butter, straight forward and simple!
- Less hands-on time. All I had to do was place the aromatics into the fish, pour over the melted butter, then let the oven do its job.
- Great impact. Baking a whole fish always has a bigger visual impact than fillets, don’t you agree?
What to Serve with Whole Baked Sea Bass
Any roasted vegetables like purple sprouting broccoli, best roasted potatoes with preserved lemon, roasted red cabbage with honey mustard sauce, would be a great companion with baked sea bass.
But this time I served with a Croatian blitva inspired side dish – spinach and potatoes. Something like this:
A Few Cooking Notes
- Tray size matters. The baking tray should not be too bigger than fish. If it does, the butter will spread out thinly and get burnt while baking.
- I cut the tail. Yes, I did, because of the tray’s size. A bit weird looking but nothing bad for the taste!
- Any citrus juice will work. For the melted butter, use any juice from sweet tangerine, orange, or lemon. I used a bloody tasty blood orange, which was what I got on hand.
- I added crusty bread and harissa. To make my meal more filling, I ate it with homemade bread and harissa, so tasty!
Whole Sea Bass with Brown Citrus Butter Recipe
A presentable and delicious dish doesn’t have to be complicated. Try this baked sea bass recipe. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to make!
Ingredients
Serves 2
- 2 whole sea bass (450 g)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 2 scallions
For the Citrus Butter
- 20 g butter
- 15 g olive oil
- 1 tbsp tangerine/blood orange juice
- 1 tsp lime juice
- 1 fat clove of garlic, crushed, skin on
- ½ tsp salt
- about 10 twists of freshly ground black pepper
How to Make
- Preheat oven to 190ºC fan mode/ 210ºC.
- Pat dry the sea bass. Use a sharp knife to make 5 diagonal slits on both sides. Sprinkle salt on and stuff the rosemary and scallions into the fish. Put the fish on a lined tray.
- Put all the citrus butter ingredient into a small sauce pan. Turn on low heat to melt the butter, then pour it over the fish.
- Bake for around 12 minutes. Then turn the oven to a higher heat, like 220ºC, baste the fish and place the tray to the highest rack to bake for 5-6 minutes more, until the fish’s skin is nicely brown and blistered.
