Tandoori Sea Bass with a curried rice

Tandoori Sea Bass with a curried rice

I call it fishing but there are rarely any fish involved, it’s normally just me, a rod and the sea. Martin and Steve, two our customers and friends, invited me sea fishing in Brighton. I was really worried that I would go and jinx the whole trip for them. Anyway, there’s a recipe here, so as you may have guessed, we caught a couple, well eighteen. Most were returned. 

Instead of just doing a plain sea bass, I thought it would be nice to spice it up a little. I normally wouldn’t do this as I am all about the main ingredient doing the talking. However, here the sea bass is still the star of the show. 

Method

To marinade the fish

1. In a bowl, mix the garlic, ginger, turmeric, tandoori masala and oil.
2. Take your fish and score deeply into the flesh, every 2.5 cm from just behind the front fin to the tail.
3. Rub the mix into the fish, and then place to marinade overnight in your fridge.

To cook the fish

1. Setup your Egg for a direct cook at 200°C with your stainless steel grid (or a good cast iron pan).
2. Cook your fish of about 5 minutes a side (depending on the size). You’re looking for the flesh to turn opaque and reach an internal temperature of 63°C.

To cook the rice

1. The day before, cook your basmati rice and when cooked spread it out onto a baking tray and put it in the fridge immediately to cool and dry out overnight. 
2. Set up your Big Green Egg with a wok at about 200°C. Once warm add your rapeseed oil. 
3. Now add your onion to soften. Once it starts to go translucent, add your garlic, ginger, curry powder and mustard seeds and stir for about 30 seconds to cook the garlic and ginger. 
4. Add in your rice and cook, constantly stirring until the rice is about 80°C. 
5. Season with Maldon salt to taste.

To serve

1. Place some rice onto a plate, and garnish with fresh coriander. 
2. Add portions of your cooked fish to the rice. 
3. You may want to serve with some pickle and mango chutley.