Sichuan-Crusted Sea Bass with...Sichuan-Crusted Sea Bass with Fermented Chili Dashi and Charred Maitake

Crisp-skinned Chilean sea bass enveloped in an aromatic red Sichuan pepper crust, served over a complex, fiery fermented chili dashi and paired with butter-roasted maitake clusters.

Ingredients

Cooking Instructions

1. 01

   Score the skin of the sea bass lightly in a crosshatch pattern. Pat thoroughly dry with linen towels. Season the skin side with crushed Sichuan peppercorns and flaky sea salt, pressing gently to adhere.

2. 02

   In a small saucier, combine the dashi, fermented chili paste, shiro shoyu, mirin, and ginger juice. Bring to a bare simmer over low heat for 8 minutes to marry flavors, then strain through a fine chinois to achieve a pristine, fiery broth. Keep warm at 65°C.

3. 03

   Heat 1 tablespoon of grapeseed oil in a carbon steel skillet over medium-high heat. Add the maitake mushrooms, searing undisturbed for 3 minutes until deeply caramelized and crisp on the edges. Add 15g of cultured butter, baste for 1 minute, season lightly with salt, and drain on paper towels.

4. 04

   Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of grapeseed oil in a heavy non-stick pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Place the sea bass skin-side down, applying gentle downward pressure with a fish spatula for 30 seconds to prevent curling.

5. 05

   Cook on the skin side for roughly 5–6 minutes until crisp and golden. Flip the fish, add the remaining 15g of butter to the pan, and baste the flesh gently for 1–2 minutes until the core reaches 50°C (122°F). Remove and let rest for 2 minutes.

6. 06

   To plate, ladle 60ml of hot chili dashi into the center of warm shallow porcelain bowls. Arrange clusters of charred maitake slightly off-center and set the rested sea bass atop the broth. Split the dashi around the perimeter with beads of vibrant chive oil and garnish the fish with micro purple shiso leaves.