Coconut Crusted Chilean Sea Bass

The credit for this recipe goes to Rick because he has perfected it over the past year or so.  We have since prepared the coconut crust over a few different types of fish and all with the coconut jasmine rice as described.  I particularly like the texture of Chilean sea bass, so I prefer to use this recipe with it.  There are a lot of different steps and all the parts come together for an amazing dish.

Ingredients:

4 8 ounce cuts of Chilean sea bass

1/2 lb of snap peas

1 cup of coconut flakes, split into 2 parts

1/4 cup of panko breadcrumbs

13.5 oz of unsweetened coconut milk (typical size of 1 can)

8 oz of clam juice (for allergies, substitute with chicken stock)

3 stalks of scallion 

1/5 red onion

2 cloves of minced or chopped garlic

4 teaspoons of minced ginger

3 dashes of Thai fish sauce (picture below)

1 teaspoon of honey

1 lime

red pepper flake, salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup of flour

jasmine rice

First, preheat the broiler.  Then take 1/2 C of the coconut flakes (usually found in the baking section of the grocery store) and put them in a dry nonstick skillet on medium heat.  You'll want to watch them and stir as needed to lightly toast the flakes but not burn them.  This will eventually go in our rice mixture, but once toasted, you can transfer them to a plate and keep aside.  

Prep for some future steps, slice the red onion into thin slivers and chop the scallion finely.  Squeeze the lime fully.  Keep each on the side.

Take this time to also finely chop some cilantro.  This is for garnish, so while not completely necessary, it does add a nice flavor.

Now take the remaining 1/2 cup of coconut flakes and add 1/4 cup of panko breadcrumbs.  Also prep the snap peas by cleaning and trimming.

  

Next we will prepare our sauce.  In a large saute pan, combine the coconut milk, clam juice, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, honey, lime, and red pepper flake.  Heat to a boil, stirring occasionally over medium heat and then add the red onions.  Reduce for an additional 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, switch to low heat and add scallions.

 

Jasmine rice is an important part of this dish, but its the one part that I don't like to spend a lot of time or attention on.  I use the boiling variety but you can use whatever kind you'd like.  Start preparing this to spec at this point.  Also start boiling some water to cook the snap peas in.

Time for the sea bass!  Chilean sea bass is best with a nice sear on it, even with a coconut crust.  To get this, you need to dredge it.  Take the flour and mix with some salt and pepper on a plate.  Then dip each side of the fillets into the mixture to coat it lightly.  Set each aside as you heat a little oil in a pan.  You need the oil to get very hot before you place in the fish.  Cooking time will vary base on thickness.  Chilean sea bass is cooked when white inside and not opaque.

  

Note that this meal is requiring every burner of my stove (and every inch of counter space!!) 

Once your sea bass is fully cooked, arrange the pieces in the pan in a way that will be easy to apply the coconut crust.  This pan will go directly in the broiler.

Add a sliver of butter to the top of each fillet.  Then take 1/4 of the mixture for each and place on top, fully coating the tops.  

  

By now, the water should be boiling for the snap peas, the rice should be cooked and the sauce should be reduced...a lot of things are taking shape!  Make sure this is the case before putting the pan with the sea bass into the broiler because you'll only keep it in there for 2 minutes or less, enough for the coconut on top to toast a little, but not burn.  This is also around the same amount of time the snap peas need to cook, so toss them in and then use the broiler.  Watch the coconut flakes constantly!!

 

So now is the fun part--plating!  Rick is the best at this, so here's how he does it:

First, add the rice to the center of the plate.  Add the chopped cilantro.

Next, pour the coconut sauce mixture over the rice.  Be sure to spoon in some of the red onion as well!

Place the sea bass in the center of the plate, garnish with snap peas around the plate and sprinkle that toasted coconut from the first step over the entire dish.

And that's it!  There are a lot of moving parts to this recipe, but it is worth it in the end!!  Just be prepared to constantly monitor progress of things as they cook because many can overcook and aren't salvageable.  Hope you enjoy!