How to cook sea bass

Sea bass is one of the most versatile fish out there. It's great grilled, barbecued, and then there's en papillote sea bass. Perfect for a dinner party if you ask us.

So here's exactly how to cook sea bass in a selection of different and delicious ways...

How to grill sea bass fillets

Sea bass can easily be grilled using the overhead grill in your oven. Start by scoring the skin of the sea bass fillets ever so slightly, then drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Pop it under the grill skin side up for 6-8 minutes until the sea bass flesh is opaque.

How to pan-fry sea bass fillets

Place a non-stick pan over a medium heat, and add a drizzle of oil. Season your sea bass fillets on both sides with salt and pepper. When the pan is hot, place the fillets skin side down in the pan. Make sure you lay the fish away from you (so place the front part down on the pan first) to stop any oil splashing up and burning you. Cook the fillets for 3-4 minutes skin side down; about 75% of the fish should be opaque at this point. Then flip it over and cook it for 1 more minute on the other side, then remove from the pan.

Top tip: if you want a really crispy skin on your sea bass, when you turn your sea bass fillet over, aka when it’s skin side up, drop in a knob of butter, and spoon the foaming butter over the sea bass skin.

Adding a squeeze of lemon juice over the top at the end is always a nice touch.

How to roast a whole sea bass

There are so many ways you can roast a whole sea bass, but the easiest and simplest method goes a little something like this...

Pre-heat your oven to 200ºc (180ºc Fan). Score your whole sea bass on both sides, then parboil some new potatoes, and throw them into roasting tray with a good glug of oil, salt and pepper, olives, capers, cherry tomatoes and a few lemon wedges. place the whole sea bass on top of everything and bake it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.

A lot of delicious juices will come out of the fish and season your potatoes, which will all add to the flavour. Once cooked, remove it from the oven and serve family style; in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves.

How to BBQ a whole sea bass

Seeing as the weather is finally improving, how about cooking a whole sea bass al fresco?Start by getting your BBQ nice and hot, then score your whole sea bass. Season with salt and pepper.

You can then either wrap it in foil and place it on the hot BBQ, or you you can can simply place the whole sea bass directly onto the BBQ. Saying that, if you're forgoing the foil, your BBQ needs to be really hot and really clean, otherwise the fish skin will stick. Alternatively, you can buy a BBQ fish basket so it doesn’t fall through the grill. Cook the sea bass for 6-7 minutes on each side, then serve.

How to steam sea bass fillets

Start by scoring your sea bass fillets and seasoning them with salt and pepper. To add flavour to steamed sea bass, you can incorporate some aromatics, such as ginger, spring onion, chillies and/or lime wedges. Lay these in the bottom of a steam basket or colander, then place the sea bass fillets on top. Steam over gently boiling water for 5-6 minutes until the fish is opaque. Once cooked, drizzle with soy and serve with noodles or rice.

How to en papillote sea bass

Sounds posh, right? 'En papillote' literally translates as 'cooked in a paper wrapper'. This involves cooking your fish fillets or a whole sea bass in baking parchment/greaseproof paper in the oven.

My favourite way of doing this is by pre-heating your oven to 180ºC (160ºC Fan). Then laying out a sheet of paper and placing lemon slices and sprigs of thyme on top of it. Drizzle the fillets or whole sea bass with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bring the sides of the paper in and fold to create a parcel. Roast the parcel in your oven the for 10-12 minutes if you're cooking sea bass fillets, and 20-25 minutes for a whole sea bass.