Pan-fried sea bass with citrus-dressed broccoli
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Pan-fried sea bass with citrus-dressed broccoli

A restaurant-quality fish supper, ready in just half an hour

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 2

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

Gluten-free

Method

  1. Before you start cooking, get everything prepared. Trim each sea bass fillet so they are both the same shape, then score the skin, cutting into the flesh slightly, 5 or 6 times at about 1cm intervals. Set aside.
  2. Segment the orange - slice off the top and bottom, then cut away the skin and pith. Cut away each segment, then squeeze out the juice from the rest of the orange into a bowl. Cut the broccoli into medium-size florets.
  3. To make the warm broccoli salad, cook the florets in a pan of boiling salted water for 1 min until just cooked. While the broccoli is cooking, put a frying pan on to heat. As soon as the broccoli is cooked, drain it, then tip straight into the hot frying pan to 'scorch' out all the moisture.
  4. Turn off the heat, then scatter the orange segments over the broccoli. Toss for a few moments just to heat through, then tip into a bowl and dress with the orange juice and 2 tbsp olive oil. Season with pepper and a small sprinkling of sea salt, then set aside.
  5. Wipe out the pan. Season the fish with a little salt and pepper just before cooking. Heat the frying pan until very hot, then add 2 tbsp oil. Lay the fish fillets in the pan, skin-side down. As soon as it goes in, press each fillet down with your fingers or a fish slice to stop it from curling up.
  6. Reduce the heat to medium, then leave the fish to cook for 3-4 mins, undisturbed, until you can see that the flesh has cooked two-thirds of the way up and the skin is crisp and brown.
  7. Flip the fillets over, then fry on the flesh side for about 2 mins until just done, basting the skin with the oil in the pan as it cooks. Leave to rest on a warm plate, skin-side up, and baste with the hot oil and juices from the pan.
  8. Pour 2 tbsp olive oil into the pan and place it back on a high heat. Scatter in the capers and anchovies, then cook until they start to crisp. Grate over the lemon zest and squeeze in the juice of ½ the lemon. If there isn't enough juices in the pan to drizzle over both plates, add a splash more oil. You are now ready to plate up.
Try

Salt

With this recipe, watch how much salt you use - anchovies and capers are very salty so the broccoli and fish will need only a small sprinkling.

Wild sea bass

I use wild sea bass in my restaurants and, to ensure that it's sustainable, I use only line-caught. Wild sea bass fillets are a lot larger than the farmed ones you get in supermarkets, so if you are using farmed, the fillets will weigh about 100g once trimmed. They won't need to be pan-fried for as long, so take 1 min off the cooking time.

Scales

As the crisp skin is an important part of this finished dish, you need to make sure that the fish has been scaled properly before cooking as fish scales are tough and inedible. Ask your fishmonger to scale the fish for you and, when you get the fish home, wipe the skin with a piece of kitchen paper to get rid of any stray scales that may be clinging on.

PER SERVING

528 kcalories, protein 36g, carbohydrate 10g, fat 39 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 4g, sugar 9g, salt 2.97 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, February 2009.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 21-33

  • Binder photo Sarah Byfield

    08 October 2011

    Sarah Byfield rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I didn't find this recipe too difficult - I made sure I had everything prepared before I started cooking and had plenty of warm plates and foil to keep things warm. The dish was lovely, and the brocolli & orange was a lovely combination with the fish. I served with roasted new potatoes. My only criticism is that the caper & anchovey dressing was a bit too strong for my liking - hubby loved it though!

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  • Binder photo Nicolai Loken

    25 November 2011

    Nicolai Loken rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I would never have though of this combination of flavours myself, but it works a treat and has made this one of my favourite seafood dishes. The citrus means you do need to leave some time between occasions when you have it, though, as it can get a bit "much" after a while.

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  • Binder photo janaskar

    28 December 2011

    janaskar rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    All the ingredients in this recipe works so well together! I don't like capers and anchovies and the kids have never eaten orange with broccoli before, but it worked and was delicious in every way. It made a great Christmas Eve meal!

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  • Binder photo benny

    14 March 2012

    benny rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo Dinah

    30 April 2012

    Dinah rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious and easy to follow recipe. Great result and the fish still holds it's own.

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  • Binder photo Dinah

    30 April 2012

    Dinah rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious and easy to follow recipe. Great result and the fish still holds it's own.

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  • Binder photo crumbortwo

    23 June 2012

    crumbortwo rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Good but not great. Maybe I messed up at point 2 which I found confusing. I could not find fillets as thick as the ones pictured. My fishmonger said he could order them, otherwise I would have had to buy a very large wild sea bass that he had on the slab and would have cost in the region of £20. I bought one good sized farmed bass for £6 and cooked the fillets for 3 minutes on the skin size and a minute on the other size. The fish was perfect but any more and I would have overcooked it. I served with new potatoes and some more veg. In hindsight, this was too much. The dish benefits from being served up on its own.

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  • Binder photo je

    16 August 2012

    je rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious and quick to make. Done.

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  • Binder photo The Becker Suite

    22 September 2012

    The Becker Suite rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Great combination of flavours and not difficult if you have your prep done.

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  • Binder photo Chef Mike :P

    25 October 2012

    Chef Mike :P commented on this recipe

    I am a below average cook :P but wanted to really impress my girl and found this dish to be perfect as she LOVES sea bass! just wanted to ask, should i go with roasted new potatoes as people have recommended or should i mix it up a little with sauteed potatoes? I will let you all know how i get on Saturday night!

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  • Binder photo Curlyb

    10 February 2013

    Curlyb rated this recipe

    3 stars

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  • Binder photo Curlyb

    10 February 2013

    Curlyb rated this recipe

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  • Binder photo Chezntin

    13 April 2013

    Chezntin rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Found this easy enough with all the prep done first. Hubby threatening me with Masterchef after making thus for him!! Lovely unexpected combination of ingredients and had everything needed in the cupboards/fruit bowl to go with the sea bass, which I'd bought cause it was on offer- even better!! Will definitely be making this again.

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 2

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

Gluten-free

Ingredients

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PER SERVING

528 kcalories, protein 36g, carbohydrate 10g, fat 39 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 4g, sugar 9g, salt 2.97 g

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