What do you cook when you need to impress your guest(s)? Well, for me, I made this mouthwatering, succulent, and juicy baked sea bass that screams “I am a catch!”
A couple of weekends ago, my buddy Melting Wok came to my house. Prior to her visit, I was thinking hard about the dish I was going to make–a dish that would impress her so much that she couldn’t stop ooohs and aaahs after tasting the goods. Well, I have to because S is really an excellent cook and has deep knowledge about food, for example: she can pretty much decode the composition of ingredients used by simply sniffing the food. Yes, I kid you not. If you have visited her blog, you should know that she has real talents in the cooking department. If you haven’t yet checked it out, I urge you immediately click here to see how she whips up gourmet and droolsome dishes using like leftover tortilla and exotic creatures such as jellyfish…
Anyway, back to how to impress my guest. That weekend, I went to the market and picked up some fresh sea bass fillets that had just arrived at the store, marinated them with some sake, mirin (yes, my food crush with Japanese cuisine is here to stay), soy sauce for 30 minutes, and then pan seared them lightly on both sides before baking them.
The end result was simply sublime. Was S impressed, you ask? Well, we will wait for her to comment.
Recipe: Baked Sea Bass with Ginger Ponzu Sauce
Ingredients:
1/2 pound sea bass (2 fillets)
4 tablespoons sake
1/2 teaspoon mirin
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Ginger Ponzu Sauce
5 tablespoons Kikoman Ponzu sauce
1/2 inch fresh ginger (grated)
Method:
- Marinate the sea bass with sake, mirin, and soy sauce for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degree F.
- Pan-sear both sides of the seabass until the surface turns light brown.
- Transfer the fish fillets to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes.
- Pour the ginger ponzu sauce generously over the baked sea bass and serve hot.
Note: The apricots served only as the backdrop of my pictures and were not used in the preparation of this dish.
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{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
Simple and elegant — a lovely recipe!
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im going to try it as soon as i find where i can buy mirin..having problem finding it at the supermarket..
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Melting Wok is one of my favourite blogs and yes, that woman can cook! as can you! :) Fish looks great. I’ll be back to read her verdict :)
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Did you have to cut the skin a little before you pan sear the sea bass? I think when I pan sear cod fish, the skin shrinks and my fish doesn’t look as nice as yours :(
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What a lovely coincidence! I have a seabass in the fridge waiting to be cooked and devoured! I am going to bookmark this recipe of yours. What other wine can I used to replace sake? If it’s a must here, I guess I can go and buy one…
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Looks like a block of cod! How does it taste like?
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The velvet smooth texture of the sea bass melted like butter right under my tongue :)The good thing is that both the sake and mirin seasoning did not overpower the natural sweetness of the fish. It mingled harmoniously with the ponzu sauce, which also added a mild citrusy flavor that blended wonderfully with the minced ginger. Thanks B, I give this sea bass dish a 5 star rating :)
P/S: Heck.. even the mini apricots were delicious :)
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A family friend made a dish very simliar to this, and I agree, it was really sublime. I think she cooked it under the broiler. This recipe is definitely getting bookmarked. Thanks! :)
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Your baked sea bass looks divine, RM! I’m sure Melting Wok was impressed. :)
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omg, fish! furthermore a seabass! awwww….. fantastic!
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I like using the broiler in my toaster oven. Fries and bakes all at once! =)
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Your photos are amazing! How do you get the light to be so bright?
Do you use flash or do you have a lamp (white light) in the kitchen?
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Simple yet tasty. Sounds like a great recipe for me…diet thing! It was a nice touch adding the apricots to the photo as welL!
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Both of u stay ‘kin-kin’? Both good cooks. ‘Jeles-nya’.
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NOW I know what to do with the ponzu in my cupboard that a friend brought back from Japan … it looks like a very posh brand too… more Japanese-inspired recipes, please!
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havent been back here for a long time and u still make me drooooool..
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Did you get the sea bass from Ranch 99 or Santa Monica Seafood( f you have not discover this great seafood store in OC, there’s one in Newport beach).
Btw, the Mani chai never germinated and the Okra cease to grow :( but a pack of Cow-horn okra seeds is on it’s way to So.Cal
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I finally SAW this dish after I HEARD about it..heh heh ;P And I think all the oooh-aaahing are justified. They look so perfect! And the sauce…ooh la la….I know not enough fillets to go around but, can I just have some sauce on my steamed rice? Pleeeasee….
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oohh jeles jeles! lol! when r we gonna have our bbq session? gotta utilise the new furniture tht u bot.
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man… the fish looks so good…!!! I love seafood too!
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Lydia - it was a very simple recipe yet lovely and elegant. You are right. :)
Joe - good luck finding mirin.
Cynthia - thanks.
Simcooks - I didn’t cut the skin but I did notice that the skin was shrinking when I pan-seared the fish. So I transfer them to the oven immediately…a couple of pictures actually showed the shrunken skin. Hehe.
Novice Baker - this is a Japanese recipe so I chose sake. If you have Chinese rice wine, it would work.
Pablo - I loooove sea bass and black god. Both are very good.
Melting Wok - thanks for your 5 star rating. I am glad you loved it. :)
Amy - Broiler…that would be great. I do not have it. :(
For the love of food - I think she was very impressed. Hehe.
Meiyen - Yes sea bass is good!
CP - Oooh, I want I want a toaster oven now.
Ming - I answered it on your blog.
Wokandspoon - yes, those apricots were so cute.
Tummythoz - No lah, Melting Wok lives far away from me, almost an hour drive. If she lives kin-kin, then wah, we can take turns cooking.
Stephanie - you can also check out my soft shell crab recipe here.
Foodcrazee - Hahaha…good, you need to come back more and drool more.
Cooknengr - I got it from Ranch 99. No, I have never been to Santa Monica Seafood. Sorry to hear about the mani chai and okras, well, perhaps you need to buy the mani chai tree. LOL.
Tiga - where did you heard about it?
Princess - soon soon, I will let you know. Hehe. Too bad you missed out the sea bass and the karaoke.
Oppss - Penang lang sure loves seafood one.
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Simple. Beautiful.
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You are really good in serving simple dish into something so gorgeous and delicious. Must learn from you. hehe
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Melting wok is really lucky to eat your fantastic fish…Perfect as always!
Cheers
Claude
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rasa malaysia,
hmmmm… you really know how to pull my legs. You really reminds me during my stay in Scotland. There are so plenty of cod, sea bass, trout and salmon.
I usually steam, pan fry or deep fry. Want me to say some recipe with you! hehehe!!!
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You forgot liow meh? ;p You & MW were sayin’ how good how good this fish was? Or was it the wrong fish I’m talkin’ abt here?
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ooooh that looks fantastic! seabass is the way to my heart, neat how its cut.
i’m a hugefan of meltingwok, i’m sure she was impressed! :)
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you have impressed us ssssoooo much with that white succulllentte
thing so wher u & us go from here ?
dun keep us hanging too long dear…
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Elmo - thanks. :)
Cutie - I believe in minimalist approach with everything, less is more. ;)
Claude - thanks, but I wanted to eat what you cook.
Big Boys Oven - sure, send me an email and share your recipes!
Tiga - correct, I almost forgot liao, we told you. LOL.
Aria - I love sea bass too, but my favorite has got to be Chilean sea bass so good, but it’s endangered now. :(
Team BSG - there are more to come just hang in there.
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Damn, not again. It’s the third keyboard you made me ruin with my drool! Curse you! ;-)
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u have such awesome pics on ur blog . truly fantastic :)
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Wow, that looks really good!
Mirin though, where did you buy yours?
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what kind of sake do you use?
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I made this baked sea bass using your baked sea bass recipe and my hubby loved it!
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