Sea bas can be captured in fisheries or line-caught. The first are better than the second: captured alive, they die out of water by losing consciousness, but haven't had the stress of a hunter's prey. I like the finesse of this fish, cooked in its skin and made even more subtle by the suave and long flavour of Goa powder, a very ancient Oriental blend, brightened by tamarind and lime.
Serves 4
Ingredients
A handful of seaweed - 4 small sea bass weighing 400g (15 oz) each - 500 g velvet swimming crabs (1 lb, 2 oz) - 1 bunch spring onions - 1 clove garlic - 1 lime - 100 g butter (4 oz) - A few leaves of strong mint - For the puree of spices and aromatics: 30 g fresh ginger (1 oz), 5 cl tamarind juice (1/4 cup), 15 ml coconut cream (1 tbsp), available from Asian grocers, 5 ml coriander seed (1 tsp), 10 ml cumin (2 tsp), 20 ml salted, grilled peanuts (4 tsp), A knife-tip of chilli puree
Fairly easy and quick if you know how to juggle several tasks at once - Indispensable: a couscoussier or steamer
Basic preparation
In the bowl of your blender, place the peeled and roughly chopped ginger, tamarind juice, coconut cream, chilli puree, peanuts, cumin and coriander seeds. Blend until you have a puree. Gut the sea bass by the gills without scaling it. Rince them under clear water.
Prepare the spring onions by cutting the roots and half the green part, which you will slice roughly.
Cut the butter into small cubes.
Crush the velvet swimming crabs, heat them in butter, add the crushed garlic clove, onion tops, and 10 ml (2 tsp) of the spices and aromatics mix. Add water or, better, chicken
stock, to halfway up the mixture. Cook for 20 minutes. Strain through a fine strainer, pressing it well to extract the juice. Set aside in a small saucepan.
Plunge the onions in boiling salted water until lightly cooked,refresh them in ice water, drain.
Realisation
Fill the bottom of your couscoussier with seaweed and a little water, bring to a rolling boil. Place the sea bass in the upper part and cook for 8 minutes.
You should be able to easily remove the bones from the dorsal fin.
Heat the spiced jus and add 100 g (4 oz) butter, emulsifying with a small hand-held blender.
Add the lime juice. Check the seasoning.
Heat the spring onions and roll them in a few leaves of strong mint.
Last minute
Remove the sea bass from the steamer and remove its skin. Place a sea bass on each plate, with the spring onions next to it. Drizzle the sauce around the hollow edge of the plate.
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© Olivier Roellinger - Maisons de Bricourt.
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