Pan Fried Sea Bream with Saffron RiceI first made this dish a year or two ago, I had planned to do something with Sea Bass but couldn’t get any, instead I spotted a deal on whole, fresh Sea Bream. I had never used it before and I since discovered that it’s actually a family of fish so you can get a fairly wide variety under the name “Sea Bream”. Regardless of what Sea Bream you actually get they all have a fairly firm, juicy flesh and are not too dissimilar to Sea Bass in taste. Generally, the Sea Bream is cheaper than Sea Bass and it’s usually a larger fish. I find Sea Bream is a little less oily so it you have to be more careful not to overcook it.
I came up with this dish myself, it’s pretty simple to do and can easily be done though the week when time is short. Fish and rice is a very common asian dish. I thought I would liven it up a bit by making some saffron rice and a few extra ingredients to go with the fish.
Ingredients (Serves 2):
2 Whole fresh Sea Bream
2 Cups (340g) Basmati Rice
3 Large Red Chillis (deseeded)
5 Spring Onions
50g Ginger
3 Cloves Garlic
2g Saffron
5 tbps Groundnut Oil
1 tbps Light Soya Sauce
1 tsp Sesame Oil
Chicken Stock (enough to cook the rice in)
Method:
1. Wash the rice and cook as directed but using Chicken Stock instead of water. Add in one chopped clove of garlic, one sliced and deseeded chilli and the saffron and let it all cook together – usually takes around 25mins.
2. Rinse the fish, remove any scales and score both sides of the skin with a sharp knife, this will help crisp the skin. Slice the ginger into strips, dice the garlic, cut and deseed the chillis and slice the spring onions.
3. In a large skillet, heat 4-5 tbps of Groundnut oil. Set the pan to a medium-high heat.
4. Add the ginger, garlic, chili and most of the spring onions, leaving only a little back for a garnish at the end. Fry this mixture with a little salt, until it has become fragrant.
5. Now add the fish to the pan and fry for 3 minutes, turn and fry the other side for another 3 minutes.
6. When the fish is close to done (about 1 minute after you flip it) add the soya sauce and sesame oil.
7. Serve the fish immediately with the rice. Sprinkle some of the fresh spring onion over the rice and enjoy!
Tips:
Don’t move the fish around the pan before the 3 minutes is up. It will cause the skin to stick, it will only come free when it’s cooked so you know if you can’t move the fish because it’s stuck to the pan – it’s not done yet!
Another thing to watch for is the eye of the fish. Firstly, it should be nice and clear when you buy it, that tells you it’s fresh. Secondly, when cooking the fish the eyes will turn white when the fish is cooked.
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