Sea Bass with Creamy Lemon Sauce
This delicious sea bass recipe is from Mary Berry Cooks the Perfect Step by Step recipe book.
Ingredients
For the fish:
- 4 sea bass fillets each weighing approx. 100g (see Notes)
- olive oil for brushing
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the sauce:
- 50g butter
- 150ml single cream (I use Elmea to reduce the calories!)
- half a lemon zest and juice
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp plain flour
- salt and ground white pepper
- 2 tsp fresh chives finely snipped, or 0.5 tsp dried chives
Instructions
- Make the sauce - melt the butter in a small pan. Remove it from the heat, then whisk in the cream, lemon juice, egg yolk, and flour until well mixed. Stir in the lemon zest. Return the pan to a low heat and stir continuously until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. If using dried chives, add them now. Season with salt and white pepper and set aside.
- Preheat a griddle pan or heavy frying pan over a high heat for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, pat the sea bass fillets dry with kitchen roll and score the skin (see Notes). Brush both sides of the fish with olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Reduce the heat to medium high and lay the fillets in the hot pan, skin side down (see Notes). Cook for 3 minutes until the skin is lightly charred and crisp. Carefully turn the fillets over using a fish slice, then fry for a further 1 to 2 minutes on the other side. You may need to cook the fish in batches.
- Warm the sauce through briefly over a very low heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the fresh chives (if using). To serve, lay the fish on warmed plates and spoon over some of the sauce. Pour the rest of the sauce into a jug.
- We served our with boiled new potatoes, green beans and courgettes.
- Alternative serving suggestion - try it with some roast veg.
Notes
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- For crispy golden skin on the sea bass:
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- Using a sharp knife, score the fish skin by making 4 or 5 cuts to the point where you can see the flesh. Scoring the fillets helps to keep them flat in the pan, ensuring they don’t curl up as they cook.
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- The pan must be very hot when you add the fillets, so that they can sear properly. Don’t move the fish as it cooks, as it may break up and you’ll lose the attractive charred pattern from the pan’s ridges.
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- For crispy golden skin on the sea bass:
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- Enjoy the creamy lemon sauce with any pan fried fish, eg: sea bream, haddock, salmon, rock turbot.