Sea Bass with saffron orange sauce | Recipe of the week

Line-caught sea bass is one of the finest fish to eat with its sweet, clean taste and firm white flesh.

Chichester Harbour is a renowned area for sea bass because of the shallow water where the fish come to breed.

Sea bass are prolific hunters and are known as ‘the wolf of the sea’ in France. They like to eat small fish and crabs which gives some reason to the taste of the fish itself.

This dish is quite simple to prepare but looks stunning for a special occasion and uses local asparagus.

Ingredients, serves 4

4 fillets of sea bass

2 oranges

Juice of half a lemon

2 shallots finely diced

100ml white wine

Pinch saffron

125ml olive oil

Pinch xanthan gum

Sea salt

Bunch asparagus, bottom woody part removed

Bunch spring onions, cleaned and split

Half-cucumber, peeled and diced

Method

1. Make the sauce by putting the zest and juice of the oranges in a saucepan. Add the lemon, shallots, white wine, saffron olive oil and xanthan gum and bring to a boil. Simmer for 8 minutes and then liquidise. Season to taste and keep warm.

2. Fry the sea bass skin side down for 6 minutes on a medium heat and turn over to finish cooking for another 3 minutes

3. Heat a knob of butter in a saucepan and when bubbling add the asparagus cook for 2 minutes and then add the spring onion and cucumber cook for another 2 minutes.

4. Spoon the sauce onto 4 plates and arrange the vegetables on top.

5. Place the sea bass on top of the vegetables to serve.