Thai roasted whole sea-bass

This is a really simple recipe using the whole fish, it cooks really quickly and don’t be daunted by the bones! Sea-bass bones pull away in one go, the benefit of cooking them whole is the fish is definitely more moist, and as I do in this recipe, you can fill the cavity of the fish with aromatics which definitely adds a real difference to the flavour.

So give it a go if you’re a fish fan. It’s perfect for a delicious Saturday supper.

Ingredients

• 2 whole sea-bass / ask the fish monger to gut and scale your fish
• 1/2 jar of Red Thai curry paste
• 1 bunch of fresh coriander. Starks removed and kept for the fish cooking
• 1 bunch of spring onions finely sliced and any ends used for cooking the fish
• Lime halved
• 2 sweet potatoes – I’ve used purple ones thinly sliced

Method

1. Lay the sea bass on a baking tray and spoon a teaspoon of paste onto each fish, massaging the paste on both sides of the fish. Add more paste if needed as you want a thick layer on each side as this will form a crust when we pan fry the fish, which is a good thing!
2. Inside the cavity push in the stalks of coriander and the ends of the spring onions. The aromatics will permeate the fish as it’s cooking.
3. Now heat a heavy based frying pan with a good slug of rapeseed oil, make sure the oil is hot before you put the fish in as we want it to cook quickly and cause a good crust so it’s not soggy. Cook either side for 2 minutes.
4. Take out the fish and set to one side, while the pan is still hot cook the sweet potato, as they are thinly sliced and the oil is hot you can get these cooked quickly, very like crisps! Delicious!
5. Now arrange the cooked sweet potato on a plate, spread out the coriander leaves between the 2 plates along with the spring onion and lay your fish on the bed of greens and squeeze over the lime and eat immediately.

Enjoy!