Pan-Roasted Wild Black Bass...Pan-Roasted Wild Black Bass in Sencha-Matsutake Dashi with Charred Romanesco

An exquisite, nutrient-dense composition featuring pristine wild black bass with glass-crisp skin, resting in a restorative clarified sencha green tea and matsutake mushroom infusion, brightened with cold-pressed perilla oil and citrusy sea succulents.

Ingredients

Cooking Instructions

1. 01

   Submerge the kombu and dried mushrooms in 750ml of cold filtered water in a saucepan; bring slowly to 60°C (140°F) over 20 minutes, extract the kombu, then bring to 80°C (176°F). Turn off heat, steep the Sencha tea leaves for exactly 2 minutes, then strain the broth through a superbag or fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth. Stir in yuzu juice and a pinch of salt; keep warm at 65°C.

2. 02

   Score the black bass skin with micron-fine incisions. Pat the skin completely dry with paper towels to ensure peak crispness, and lightly season the flesh with fine sea salt.

3. 03

   Dry-char the Romanesco florets in a screaming-hot cast iron skillet for 2 minutes until blistered at the edges but retain vibrant crunch. Toss immediately with 5ml of the perilla oil and sea salt.

4. 04

   In a heavy carbon-steel or stainless steel pan, heat 15ml of perilla oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Lay the bass fillets skin-side down, gently applying downward pressure with a fish spatula for the first 30 seconds to prevent curling. Cook on the skin side for 4–5 minutes until the skin becomes crystalline and the flesh turns opaque two-thirds up. Flip gently and kiss the flesh side for 30 seconds, then remove to rest.

5. 05

   Arrange the charred Romanesco, curled ribbons of watermelon radish, and tender samphire in the centers of four warmed shallow ceramic bowls.

6. 06

   Gently perch a black bass fillet atop the vegetable foundation. Scatter with fine shiso chiffonade and finish with flakes of sea salt and droplets of the remaining perilla oil.

7. 07

   Present the bowls and pour the clarified, fragrant Sencha-Matsutake dashi tableside around the perimeter of each fish, maintaining the skin's crisp integrity.