Crispy-Skinned Striped Bass with Tangy Green Everything Sauce

We’ve been finding excellent farmed striped bass from Baja, Mexico at our local supermarket lately. If you spot it, do give it a try; it’s silky, flavorful and a little rich. It’s so nice we like to keep the preparation pretty simple; either grilling it or setting it down on hot oil to crisp the skin, then cooking slowly and giving it a quick flip onto the flesh-side at the end.

Our favorite Tangy Green Everything Sauce drizzled on the plate makes a perfect herbal counterpoint to the bass.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 1/4 - 1 1/2 pounds striped bass

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons canola oil or grapeseed oil

1 recipe Tangy Green Everything Sauce

Instructions

1. Cut the striped bass into four equal pieces (5 to 6 ounces each). Dust the pieces generously with salt and pepper.

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet until it’s hot but not smoking. Lay the fillets on the oil skin-side down, pressing each one gently with your fingers so the skin makes contact evenly with the pan. Cook for 30 seconds, then turn the heat to medium-low. Watch the fillets as they cook — the cooking times will be depend on their thickness, but should be about 5 to 7 minutes on the first side. When you look at the fillets from the cut side, you’ll set them turning opaque close to the skin, and the opacity will gradually rise. Do not move them — just let them cook.

3. Once the fillets are opaque about halfway up, use a thin, flexible spatula (ideally a fish spatula) to gently turn them onto their flesh side. Cook very briefly — just about a minute, then transfer them to four plates. Drizzle two or three tablespoons of the Tangy Green Everything Sauce onto each plate, and serve, passing the rest of the sauce at the table.