This recipe sums up the perfect summer meal for me — light, tender, with layers of flavor and texture. If you haven’t ventured into sea bass territory, I invite you to trust me– this will be one of the best culinary additions to your meal rotation. The perfect thing about sea bass is that it’s pretty much impossible to screw up and overcook. It is a bit more oily than a salmon or a halibut — translation — you won’t dry it out! Unlike other bass, like striped bass and white bass, sea bass is only found in the ocean. And little “tid-bite” (get it??!) of information, several types of “bass,” like Chilean sea bass, are not really bass at all, but fish re-named to make them more marketable.
Sea bass is a great fish to incorporate into Asian dishes — soy/ginger sauces and spicy coconut curries. So delish!
I found the Harissa spice rub at Whole Foods and just added a bit of brown sugar to sweeten and balance the flavors. Harissa is traditionally a North African chili pepper paste, but the spice rub is a perfect topping for proteins. Harissa incorporates a combo of flavors: roasted red peppers, serrano peppers, and other hot chili peppers, garlic, coriander seed, saffron and caraway. I’m going to experiment next with making the paste from scratch!
I mean, just look how tender that fish is! This is the perfect recipe to serve to guests with a simple salad or roasted veggies.
| Prep Time | 15 min |
| Cook Time | 20 min |
| Servings |
people
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- 4 sea bass filets
- 2 Tb harissa spice
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 2 ripe avocados
- 2 garlic cloves garlic cloves
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup fresh basil
- 1 tsp agave or honey
- squeeze of fresh lime
Ingredients
For the sea bass
For the Basil Avocado Sauce
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- Preheat oven to 450 Combine harissa spice blend with brown sugar and coat tops of sea bass filets. Cook on parchment paper on a rimmed baking sheet for 18-20 minutes
- Put all ingredients in the food processor and blend until smooth. Adjust seasoning with more salt or agave/honey according to taste preference. You can even add a jalapeno if you want more heat! Serve sea bass on a bed of the basil avocado sauce.
