White Sea Bass with Sesame & Chile Oil

White sea bass, with its mild flavor and firm texture, is excellent for raw preparations when very fresh. I like to cut thicker cuts for this dish and torch it to just sear the surface to bring out a buttery richness. This adds a subtle smokiness while keeping the flesh tender.

Ingredients
   •   1 Tbsp sesame seeds
   •   1 dried chile of your desire heat
   •   3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
   •   One 1lb white sea bass fillet
   •   ½ lemon
   •     sea salt
   •   1 Tbsp thinly sliced green onion

Instructions
   1.   In a small, dry frying pan over medium heat, toast the sesame seeds until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Set aside to cool.
   2.   In the same pan, toast the chile until fragrant with a few brown spots, about 3 minutes. Let cool. Grind to a fine powder with a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.
   3.   In a small bowl, combine sesame seeds, ground chile, and olive oil. Let stand at least 1 hour so the oil absorbs some of the chile heat.
   4.   Slice the sea bass fillet into  ¼-inch thick pieces.
   5.   Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over each slice of fish. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Drizzle with the chile-sesame oil mixture and garnish with chopped green onion.

Enjoy!

That looks really good.

Errr uhhh...I'm missing a certain ingredient...who knows, maybe I'll score soon, in the meantime I'll bookmark this.   

This looks delicious!  Think it would go well with any of our other local fish? 

I used this same method on rockfish as well as ling. The fattier the fish the best but not a deal breaker. The sesame paste will give it a nutty taste which will help add to the fatty flavor.

Errr uhhh...I'm missing a certain ingredient...who knows, maybe I'll score soon, in the meantime I'll bookmark this.   

I can send you some Sesame seeds....

Errr uhhh...I'm missing a certain ingredient...who knows, maybe I'll score soon, in the meantime I'll bookmark this.   

I can send you some Sesame seeds....

How'd you guess...you must have a connection, stinking tariffs...

Thanks for the recipe and pics.

I have prepared seabass with minimal ingredients and swear i can taste a hint of squid.