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RECIPE: Baked Sea Bass in Parchment

By Colin and Mitch in Asia, China, Countries, Recipes on 8th February 2021.

with Ginger, Garlic and Spring Onion

A whole fish baked with ginger, garlic and spring onion is one of the traditional dishes associated with lunar new year in many countries in South East Asia. The reason that the fish is served whole is because the head and tail represent the start and end of the year.

We have a recipe for baked sea bass in parchment. It uses typical ingredients in Chinese cookery – the aromatic flavours of ginger, garlic and spring onion. Some methods steam the fish, other oven-bake. This recipe is very simple

1 whole sea bass, scaled and gutted

5 cm ginger

5 spring onions

3 cloves of garlic

1 chilli for garnish

METHOD

Turn on the oven to 200C, 180C fan, or gas mark 6.

Slice the ginger (you don’t have to worry about peeling the ginger) and four of the spring onions into julienned strips, roughly chop the garlic. Open the cavity of the sea bass and stuff the ingredients inside.

Place the whole sea bass onto a sheet of baking parchment.

Bring the sides of the paper over the fish and make a loose fold. It doesn’t need to be tightly sealed – enough to let steam escape but not so loose that the lovely juices from the fish don’t get lost.

Bung into the oven and cook for 25 minutes.

When the sea bass is cooked, open up the paper parchment – the smell is amazing!

Then garnish with the remaining chopped spring onion and some finely sliced chilli. When celebrating Chinese Spring Festival at New Year, the fish is served whole to the table as a sharing dish.

Happy New Year of the RabbitYear of the Rabbit begins 22nd January 2023 and celebrations will ensue. Like many festivals all over the world, such as Diwali, Eid and Easter, Chinese New Year is derived from the lunar calendar and is celebrated with food, family reunions and festivities. The animals associated with the years are based upon the Chinese horoscope. All twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac have different symbols and it is thought that people’s character traits can be reflected in those born in a particular year. So the personality traits for someone born in the Year of the Rabbit could be deemed to be quiet, elegant, kind … Continue reading →
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