Seared Striped Bass (the Secrets Restaurants Won't Tell You)

Today we are cooking striped bass with an incredibly crispy skin and romesco sauce. Yes, it looks like a restaurant dish, but you can do it. I'll walk you through every detail of it to ensure that your bass will kick ass. I have a lovely very thick piece of striper here. I just realized that my apron matches my fish. How cool is that? This is a wild east coast striper, but there is also a thinner farm raised variety that is also fantastic. You can substitute a red snapper for this dish or really any fish with tasty skin. First, let's check the fish skin for scales. Run your hands over the entire skin. If you encounter any scales, scrape them off with the dull side of your knife. A few scales are normal, but if you encounter too many, you might want to have a friendly chat with your fishmonger. Now let's make shallow diagonal slashes through the skin. This will prevent our fillet from curling up in the pan. The bass and snapper families are prone to this problem and this is the easiest way to make the fish stay flat so that its skin crisps up. Diagonal slashes are not only the most reliable in preventing curling, they also look attractive in the finished dish. But in order for them to work, you need to end up with many completely separate strips of skin, so go from one end all the way to the other end. If you cut through the flesh a bit, don't panic and try to make the next slash more shallow. This technique is not necessary for the fish from the salmon and trout families since they don't tend to curl up. But it never hurts, so if you are dealing with an unfamiliar fish that you'd like to sear with the skin, I suggest you slash it. Now let's cut the fish crosswise into serving size pieces. Salting fish at least 30 minutes before cooking will make it juicier. It works just like brining, so I highly recommend it. Sprinkle every surface of the fish with salt and put it in the fridge until it's ready to cook. You're welcome to salt the fish a day or two ahead. Since our fish is thicker than an inch, we should preheat our oven. I usually set it to 400F in case we'll need it in the end of cooking. Oven heat is much more gentle and even and it's a better way to cook through thick pieces of fish without drying them out. My little striper has been in the fridge for 30 minutes and it's ready to go in the pan. Let's just make sure we pick the right pan type. Most delicate fish will stick in a stainless pan, so go for a non-stick pan or a very well seasoned cast iron. Let's set the pan over medium high heat and add a bit of oil. I am using grapeseed oil, but any high heat oil works. You'll need about 2 teaspoons for each 6 oz piece. Before you cook the fish, it needs to be completely dry or it won't brown. If you learn only one thing from my channel, I hope it's that all proteins need to be dry. When the oil starts to shimmer, place the fish into the pan skin side down. It should make a lot of sizzling noises. I am only cooking 1 piece and saving the rest of them for dinner, so I want to fill in the empty spots with flat pieces of carrots. I do it to protect the empty spots of the pan from overheating and setting off fire alarms. I know what you want to do. You want to shake the pan and tinker with your fish. No. It'll brown a lot better if you just leave it alone for a couple of minutes. So if you are impatient and can't help it, set a timer for 2 minutes. Once the carrots brown, flip them. It's been about 3 minutes, so I'll take a peek at my fish. Nice, but I want even more browning. Let's put a teaspoon of butter under this piece and cook it some more. The butter won't really help with crispness, but I love the flavor it gives the fish. Regulate the heat during the entire cooking process. If the fish is turning black, reduce the heat. If you are not hearing aggressive sizzling noises, raise the heat. When cooking fish or chicken with the skin, you want to stay on the skin side as long as possible. Do not try to divide your time 50-50 between two sides. You see the skin is an insulator and it will protect your flesh from drying out. Now we've been on the skin side about 5 minutes and it's just right. Let's flip it. Oh yikes, my camera doesn't like this side. Ok, let's try this again. Ok camera, focus please. Thank you. As soon as I flip the fish, I take the pan off the burner. If the fish is less than an inch, it will finish cooking just sitting in the pan for a couple of minutes. But my striper is very thick, so I'll pop it into 400 degree oven for a couple of minutes. Plan on the total cooking time stovetop plus oven being 6-8 minutes per inch of thickness. Let's see how our fish is doing. No matter how hard I tried to stick the camera inside the fish to show you the inside, I couldn't do it without putting the fish on its skin. Please don't do this at home. It makes the skin soggy. Keep the fish skin side up at all times. About doneness. You want the center to still be a tad translucent. Put it back together after you check for doneness and the fish will finish cooking while it rests. If you cook it to the point that it's opaque through and through, you'll be eating dry fish. Let's spread some romesco on a plate and place the fish on top. The links for romesco and snow peas are in the description below. How did my broken piece of fish become so good looking? What can I say? Movies are magic. But I suggest that you trade off some of the looks for a thorough doneness test until you've cooked a lot of fish. I'd take tasty fish over pretty fish any day. Yo, photographers out there, this was my first shot at studio lighting. How was it? Any suggestions? Oh, I love striper. This dish is all about contrasts. You have this pure and delicate flesh of striper juxtaposed against the crispy, bold skin, and the hearty romesco against refreshing snow peas. This will take your cooking skills to a whole new level, and the variations on this theme are practically endless. If this video inspires you to cook, I can't wait to see your creations. Please share them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Don't forget to tag me and add hashtag because it tastes good. This video was brought to you by viewers like you. If you liked it, click here to support my channel. Don't forget to subscribe and if you are ever in the Boston area, maybe I'll see you in one of my classes.