Crispy Asian sea bass recipe

A fantastically simple fish dish packed with delicious ginger, chilli and garlic flavours.

Crispy Asian sea bass is so quick and easy to make. It tastes as good as any version you would find in oriental restaurant, but you can have it on the table in less time than it takes to order a takeaway - under 20 minutes. It's a great healthy option too, at only 277 calories per portion. This is a great dish to serve up as part of a Thai or Chinese spread, along with sweet and sour dishes, or some dim sum. If you prefer noodles to rice, serve with a portion of boiled egg noodles - this would have a slightly lower calorie count than the rice.

Ingredients

• 4x175g sea bass fillets
• Cornflour, to dust
• 2tsp groundnut oil
• 1tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 30g root ginger, cut into matchsticks
• 1 red chilli, cut into matchsticks
• Bunch of spring onions, shredded
• 3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 400g bok or pak choi, or choi sum
• 4tbsp Kikkoman teriyake marinade
• Lime wedges, to serve
• Steamed rice, to serve

Method

1. Pat the fish with kitchen paper, then dust both sides with cornflour. Heat a splash of oil in a large frying pan, then drizzle the skin on each fillet with a little more oil and add to the pan, skin-side down. Cook for 2-3 mins, turn and cook for a further min.
2. Meanwhile, heat the sesame oil in a large wok, add the ginger, chilli and spring onion and cook for 2 mins, stirring. Add the garlic and cook for a further min, then spoon over the fish. Add the bok choi and teriyake marinade immediately to the wok, cook over a high heat for 1 min until wilted. Serve with the fish, lime wedges and steamed rice.

Top tips for making crispy Asian sea bass

You will want to get the sea bass skin really crispy so you get a lovely contrast with the succulent flesh of the fish. To get this effect the skin needs to be as dry as possible before you fry - moisture is the enemy. Pat the skin down really well to get it as dry as possible. Make sure the oil is really hot before you add the fish, and when you do, make sure all the skin is touching the surface of the pan, otherwise you will get flabby bits. It will try to curl up against you, but keep pressing it down.

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