Coconut Poached Black Bass Recipes

COCONUT POACHED BLACK BASS

Steps:

• Rinse fillets, fish heads and fish bones well (there should be no blood) and pat dry. Refrigerate fillets until ready to use.
• In stock pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add shallots, sliced chilies, garlic and lemon grass, and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add fish heads and bones, ikan bilis, assam skins, 4 lime leaves, Thai basil stems, Vietnamese coriander stems, cilantro roots and coriander seeds and cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Stir in coconut milk and salt. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
• Strain liquid into a bowl, wiping out pot. Add lime juice and zest to coconut mixture; taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
• Arrange fillets back in the pot and cover with coconut milk mixture. Cook, covered, over low heat, until fish is opaque and just cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Meanwhile, remove stem and spine from remaining lime leaves and discard. Julienne leaves. Tear up reserved basil and coriander leaves. Divide fish among shallow bowls and ladle some coconut mixture on top. Garnish with halved chilies, julienned lime leaves, torn herbs and ginger, if desired.

BLACK BASS POACHED WITH GINGER AND SCALLIONS

Steps:

• Place the wine, vinegar, coarsely chopped vegetables, coriander and fennel seeds, peppercorns and bay leaf in a saucepan. Add water, bring to a boil, season with salt, and simmer about a half hour. Remove from heat, add the dill, basil and mint, and steep the herbs for an hour. Strain the broth and transfer to a deep saute pan large enough to hold the fish in one layer.
• Bring the broth to a simmer, add the scallions, tomato and ginger, cook about a minute and remove with a slotted spoon, reserving the liquid. Peel, seed and dice the tomato. Cut the ginger slices julienne style. Set the vegetables aside.
• With a sharp knife, lightly score the skin side of the fillets in a crisscross pattern to prevent them from curling. Bring the broth back to a very gentle simmer, place the fish in the broth skin side down and poach until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer the fish to soup plates.
• Bring the broth to a simmer again, spoon some over the fish and top the fish with the scallions, diced tomato, ginger and lemon pieces. Garnish with the coriander and serve. Freeze any leftover liquid for future use.

SEA BASS WITH COCONUT-CURRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and curry powder. Sauté mixture until onions are translucent, about 4 minutes. Mix in coconut milk and stock; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and boil until liquid is reduced to thin sauce consistency, about 50 minutes. Add carrots; simmer until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat; keep warm.
• Preheat broiler. Place fish on baking sheet; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil fish until just opaque in center, about 8 minutes. Using metal spatula, transfer fish to plates. Spoon sauce over fish. Sprinkle with green onions.

COCONUT-POACHED FISH WITH BOK CHOY

Steps:

• Season fish well with salt. In a large sauté pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add shallot, garlic, ginger and chile, and cook, stirring often until they become translucent, about 2 minutes. Season with salt.
• Add coconut milk, fish sauce and brown sugar, and whisk together until combined and sugar dissolves. Bring mixture to a gentle simmer. Add cod fillets and turn the heat down to low. Cover and cook until cod is just cooked through and opaque, about 6 to 8 minutes. Carefully remove the fish and plate in bowls.
• Add bok choy to the coconut milk broth and turn heat to medium-low. Cook bok choy until leaves are wilted and stems are tender, about 1 to 2 minutes.
• Divide bok choy evenly alongside the fish and ladle the coconut milk broth over each portion. Top with cilantro, scallions and a good squeeze of lime, and serve with remaining wedges on the side. Garnish with flaky salt, if desired.

WHOLE BLACK BASS WITH GINGER AND SCALLIONS

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Put baking dish in roasting pan.
• Rinse fish and pat dry, then rub inside and out with salt. Transfer to baking dish and sprinkle with scallion strips (white and pale green) and ginger.
• Stir together soy sauce and sugar until sugar is dissolved, then pour over fish. Add enough boiling-hot water to roasting pan to reach halfway up side of baking dish. Oil a large sheet of heavy-duty foil, then tent foil (oiled side down) over fish and tightly seal around roasting pan. Carefully transfer roasting pan to oven and bake until fish is just cooked through, 30 to 35 minutes.
• While fish bakes, cut enough scallion greens diagonally into very thin slices to measure 1/2 cup (reserve remainder for another use).
• Just before serving, remove foil from fish and sprinkle with scallion greens. Heat wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes instantly. Pour oil around side of wok, then tilt wok to swirl oil, coating side, and heat until smoking. Remove from heat and immediately pour oil over scallion greens and fish.

SEA BASS BAKED IN COCONUT MILK

Steps:

• Sprinkle the fish lightly with the salt and place it in a non-reactive baking pan just slightly larger than the fish. Spread the seafood marinade over the fish, massaging it into the flesh with your hands. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the fish from the refrigerator and surround it with the shallots, galangal and lemongrass. Pour in the coconut milk. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through. Place the fish on a platter. Discard the galangal and lemongrass and pour the sauce from the pan over and around the fish. Serve immediately.