Cast Iron
One-Pan Chilean Sea Bass with Peppadew Pepper "Asian Salsa"
- Serves 2
Author Notes
Sometimes, the stars align and a sale on chilean sea bass coincides with a surplus of sweet, slightly spicy peppadew peppers in the fridge. Throw in some other pantry/fridge staples* and you have yourself a beautiful**, tasty*** main fish dish.
Additional bonuses include easy clean-up (for the person you're cooking for): this quick dish only requires one mixing bowl and one pan. And a few easier-to-clean cooking instruments (see: knife, spoon, etc.).
*apologies in advance to commenter critics who will undoubtedly shout from the rooftops that "miso/mirin/salt is NOT a pantry/fridge staple for everyone. Pretentious much?? You're the worst!"
**although not pictured (see below)
***so tasty we ate it too fast to take a picture (see above). Who knew?? —kostuart
Ingredients
-
2 tablespoons
white miso
-
2 tablespoons
soy sauce
-
3 tablespoons
honey
-
2 tablespoons
mirin
-
1 teaspoon
sriracha (or more, if you like the heat)
-
1/2
shallot, minced
-
2
cloves garlic, minced
-
1 handful
marinated peppadew peppers, roughly chopped
-
1/2 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper and salt
-
2
5 oz fillets chilean sea bass, skin on and deboned
-
2 teaspoons
oil with a high smoking point (peanut works well)
Directions
- Mix first eight ingredients together in a medium-sized mixing bowl. It's easiest if you start with the wet ingredients to better incorporate the sticky honey, then add in the dry(er) veggies.
- Add the sea bass fillets to the mixture. Marinate for at least 20 minutes, up to 4 hours (if refrigerated).
- 20 minutes before you're ready to start cooking (which is also 35 minutes before you're ready to eat, provided you don't intend to take a picture of your food), start heating your pan to med-hi. Use a pan that can evenly distribute the heat; heavy-bottomed cast-iron works wonders for crispy skin.
- After marinating, remove the fish from the mixture, being sure to scrape off any veggie remnants that may be clinging to the fish. Reassure the veggie remnants that they will be reunited with their fish buddy very soon.
- Thoroughly dry the sea bass with paper towels and then salt and pepper (it's a verb now) both sides of the fish. Add the oil to the hot pan, tilting the pan a bit to be sure it gets full oil coverage. Turn on your vent, potentially crack some windows, then add the sea bass skin side down. Let it cook for 3 minutes, once or twice jiggling the pan ever so slightly after the 1 minute mark to avoid the skin sticking to the pan. Flip and cook for 3 minutes. Remove fish from pan and set aside (skin side up, to keep it crispy) in a warm place while you finish off the "salsa".
- Drop the heat in your pan to medium. Set aside on a cool surface if you want to drop the heat faster. Add the marinade and veggies, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down slightly to let them bubble. Once the liquid marinade has reduced to a glaze and veggies are softened, taste and adjust flavoring as necessary (more soy, more sriracha, etc.).
- Plate your entree with one fillet, skin-side down, topping each with 1/2 of veggies and glaze.
- Eat. Or take a pic and eat, if you are a normal human being with patience.
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