Sea bass teriyaki

Back when we lived in Washington state, we would occasionally drive to the southwest coast principally to dine at The Ark. This was back in the 1980s and 90s. The setting of this restaurant was picturesquely classic: Fishing boats bobbing on the water of the inlet on which the restaurant was located, huge piles of shucked oyster shells, gulls and herons flying about. And the restaurant itself with its weather-beaten exterior and an inviting very casual interior which belied its excellent cuisine which had garnered high praise from James Beard. We never had anything but excellent meals there and even now, after many years, the memories of those trips and those meals are very pleasant. 

So it sounds like the following recipe must be taken from The Ark. No, I started out thinking about making one of their preparations called Sturgeon Szechuan, but for one reason or another - not least the unavailability of sturgeon in the Twin Cities area - it morphed into what you see here, which bears only a resemblance to The Ark recipe. As we’re now surrounded by formulaic, corporate, consultant designed restaurants, I just wanted to pay homage to a one-of-a-kind restaurant which is, alas, no more. It closed a few years ago, but if you can find them, three cookbooks which the owner-chefs published afford a way to recapture their food. All are by Jimella Lucas and Nanci Main: The Ark: Cuisine of the Pacific Northwest (Ladysmith Limited Publishers, 1983), Bay and Ocean (Ladysmith Limited Publishers, 1986), and The New Ark Cookbook (Chronicle Cookbooks, 1990).

Sea bass or other white, firm-fleshed fish such as halibut, 10-12 oz, skin removed

The teriyaki sauce:

Garlic, 2 tsp minced

Ginger, 2 tsp minced

Soy sauce, 1/2 cup

Dry sherry, 1/2 cup

Lemon juice, 2 Tbs

Brown sugar, 1/4 c

Honey, 2 Tbs

Sesame oil, 1 Tbs

Butter, 2 Tbs

Flour

Orange juice, 2 Tbs

Sake, 2 tbs

Peanuts, roasted and chopped

Cucumber, “European” style, chopped

Place the ingredients for the teriyaki sauce in a blender or food processor and puree. Set aside.

Lightly dust the sea bass with flour, shaking off any excess. Heat the sesame oil and butter over medium high. Place the fish in the pan and sauté on both sides until half done. Pour in the orange juice and sake and continue cooking. When almost done, throw in the teriyaki sauce and cook for another minute at most. 

In the meantime, you will have sauteed the cucumber in a bit of butter and oil in another pan until soft and browned. Sprinkle it with salt and white pepper.

Plate the fish and pour over the teriyaki sauce. Scatter the cucumber chunks over the fish and then the chopped peanuts.

Sea bass with tomatillo cream and a hominy-black bean accompaniment

First, a word about the sea bass used in this recipe. I purchased it at Coastal Seafoods in St Paul, and I’m willing to assume that they wouldn’t sell a fish that is on the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch endangered list. (http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=6) In fact, there is apparently a lack of consensus on whether this fish - actually the Patagonian toothfish; “sea bass” is a marketing name - is actually overfished and endangered. Google “Sea bass endangered” to see the controversy. So there were three possibilities as far as my using it for this recipe: 1) This is another type of “sea bass”, of which there are several; 2) It is the Patagonian toothfish, but Coastal has satisfied itself that it isn’t endangered; or 3) It is the Patagonian toothfish, it’s endangered, and they’re selling it anyway. As I wrote above, I think number 3 is highly unlikely. Other firm white-fleshed fish can certainly be used instead, though, such as halibut or swordfish.

Red chile sauce:

Dried guajillo and/or pasilla chiles, 6

Fresh red jalapenos, 3 - 5

garlic, 2 cloves

shallot, 1

dried chipotle chile powder, 2 tsp (depending on heat tolerance)

sweet paprika, 1 Tbs

salt and pepper

Tomatillo cream:

Fresh tomatillos, 8 or so

scallions, 5 or 6

cilantro, 1/2 cup, including stems

sugar, 1 Tbs

salt and pepper

Heavy cream, 1 c.

Cornstarch, 2 tsp

Hominy-black beans accompaniment:

Hominy, either white or yellow, one 16 oz can, drained and rinsed

Black beans, 16 oz can, drained and rinsed

Epazote, 1 tsp dried or 1 Tbs fresh

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

The fish:

Sea bass, 1 pound, skin removed

Ground cumin

Ground coriander

Salt and pepper
Olive oil

For the red chile sauce:

1.  Rehydrate the dried chilies and remove the stems, veins, and seeds.

2.  Place the rehydrated chilies and the remaining ingredients in a food processor and process until pureed.
3.  Reheat when the entire dish is finished.

For the tomatillo cream:

1.  Remove the papery skins from the tomatillos, rinse, and halve. 

2.  Slice the scallions - both green and white parts.

3.  Roughly chop the cilantro.

4.  Place the above, including sugar and salt and pepper, in a pan of boiling water and boil for five minutes. Retain a half cup or so of the water.

5.  Put everything in a food processor and puree.

6.  Return to the pan, add most of the heavy cream, retaining a couple of tablespoons.

7.  Mix those two tablespoons with the two teaspoons of cornstarch and pour into the tomatillo mixture. If it becomes too thick, add some of that water mentioned in #4 above.

For the hominy and black beans.

1.  Drain and rinse the cans of hominy and black beans, and place in a pan with a 

tablespoon or more of olive oil and the epazote. Heat. Add salt and pepper.

For the fish:

1.  Heat the oven to 425 degrees.

2.  Sprinkle a fair amount of ground cumin and coriander on both sides of the fish. Salt and pepper both sides.

3.  Heat an ovenproof pan (or griddle pan if you want the crossmarks) over high heat, put some olive in it, and quickly brown both sides of the fish. 

4.  Place in the oven to finish cooking - roughly for five to ten minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.

Place the fish in the middle of the plates with the red chile sauce atop. For a more decorative touch, put the sauce in one of those plastic squirt bottles used for mustard and ketchup and paint a late Picasso-type design . . . or artist of your choosing. Rauschenberg would be nice. Or Mondrian, if you prefer straighter lines. 

Place the hominy and beans on one side and the tomatillo cream on the other.