Whole steamed sea bass with soy

effortless!

Serving the whole fish at the table means less prep and it looks really impressive. Cooking en papillote means the fish delicately steams to perfection and you don’t have to stand over it fussing.

1 HOUR | SERVES 4 | EASY | LC

sea bass 1 (about 800g), gutted and scaled, with three vertical slashes made in the flesh

long-stemmed broccoli 300g, halved lengthways

dark soy sauce 2 tbsp

shaoxing rice wine 2 tbsp

toasted sesame oil 1 tbsp

caster sugar 1 tsp

garlic 2 cloves, thinly sliced

ginger a thumb-sized piece, thinly sliced

carrots 2, peeled into thin strips

cucumber 1, peeled into thin strips

rice vinegar 2 tbsp

red chilli 1, thinly sliced

spring onions 2, thinly sliced at an angle

basmati rice to serve

1 Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Cut two large sheets of baking paper big enough to completely fit and seal in the sea bass (about 34cm x 36cm). Put the sheets, one on top of the other, onto a large baking sheet and lay the sea bass in the middle. Scatter around the broccoli.

2 Mix together the soy, shaoxing, sesame oil and sugar, and then pour over the fish. Open the belly of the fish and stuff with the garlic, ginger and a handful of coriander stalks. Season the fish and wrap up the parcel tightly to seal. Cook in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until the fish is coming away from the bone.

3 Meanwhile, put the carrot and cucumber strips into a bowl with the rice vinegar and some seasoning, and toss. Leave for 20 minutes to pickle.

4 Once the fish is cooked, open up the parcel. Top with the pickled carrot and cucumber strips, sliced red chilli and spring onions. Serve with rice.

PER SERVING 412 kcals | fat 20.8G | saturates 4.3G | carbs 13.1G sugars 10.3G | fibre 5.6G | protein 40.1G | salt 1.4G