Almond Crusted Sea Bass with Thai Sweet Chili, Soy & Sesame Sauce
Flaky sea bass, crusted with toasted, slivered almonds and grilled to perfection, all served with a sweet and salty Thai chili sauce.
Ingredients
Sea Bass Fish Filets
- 2 lbs. Chilean sea bass or black sea bass fillets
- 2 tablespoons sesame-chili oil Dynatsty packages this, but if you cannot find it, make your own by adding red chili pepper flakes to toasted sesame oil.
- 1 1/2 cups slivered almonds, toasted and chopped Trader Joes sells pre-toasted slivered almonds, which are perfect for this dish, otherwise, toast slivered almonds in a 350°F oven for about 5 minutes, or dry toast them in a frying pan on teh stove top.
Thai Sweet Chili, Soy & Sesame Sauce
- 1 cup Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
- 2 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp. soy sauce
Garnishes
- 2 tbsp. Thai basil
- 1/2 cucumber, sliced
- 6 radishes, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp. red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, or the barbecue to medium heat.
- Line a metal or aluminum baking dish with foil, allowing some extra foil for tenting the fish after the initial cooking.
- Spray the foil with cooking spray and lay the fish fillets on the foil, skin side down - if there is skin on the fish. (Most often Chilean sea bass has no skin, but the black sea bass does.)
- Brush the tops and sides of the fillets with sesame-chili oil.
- Pat the chopped almonds on top of the oil to completely cover the tops and sides of the fish.
- Barbecue or Bake???
- If you're cooking the fish on the grill, cook uncovered for about 3-4 minutes over medium heat, and then tent the fish with the foil and continue to cook for another 6 minutes or so, until the fish is cooked all the way through. This will vary depending upon the thickness of the fillets.
- If you are baking the fish in the oven, tent the prepared fish with foil and seal the edges. Bake for 18-22 minutes at 350°F, or until the fish is cooked through. Again, the bake time will depend largely on the thickness of the fillets. Open the foil for the last few minutes to allow the almnonds to brown adn get a ittel nore crunchy.
- To serve, remove the fish from the foil with a spatula, leaving the skin on the foil, and lay the fillets on each plate.
- Spoon the Thai Sweet Chili, Soy & Sesame dipping sauce over each fillet and serve any extra sauce in ramekins on the side.
- Garnish with radishes, cucumber, Thai basil and chili pepper flakes.
- Serve with your favorite rice.
Notes
We have made this dish both on the barbecue and in the oven and both are delicious. The barbecue cooks the fish a bit faster and it's always fun to grill outdoors, so we do that whenever we can!