I’m a big fan of seared sea bass especially with this coriander and coconut sauce. The flavours go so well together.
Today, I decided to make this for my wife for lunch. The weather was too good to sit inside eating cheese sandwiches.
Serving the pan seared sea bass with the flavoursome sauce really takes a plain fish dish and makes it special.
The whole meal only took 15 minutes from start to finish to prepare.
How to get seared sea bass just right…
When frying sea bass fillets it is important to get all of the moisture out of the skin.
If you don’t, the skin will not get nice and crispy.
To do this, take a sharp knife and press it against the skin at the head end. Then scrape it down the fillet toward the tail end.
Do this a couple of times and you will be left with dry skin that is perfect for searing.
And that tasty sauce…
It seems that each time that I make this coriander sauce (chutney), I make it differently.
Today’s coriander chutney was made with a few easy to find products that I had on hand. It worked really well and complimented the flavour of the fresh sea bass perfectly.
The coconut may not be to everyone’s liking but I love it. You can leave it out if you want.
Sometimes the simplest dishes are best.
If you like this recipe, you might like to try some of these too…
Pan seared sea bass with chorizo and chickpeas
Rainbow Trout poached in white wine
San Francisco cioppino
Seafood pancakes with lobster
Normandy style seafood stew.

Seared Sea Bass With Coriander and Coconut Chutney
Ingredients
- 2 fresh sea bass fillets
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 roughly chopped birds-eye green chilli (optional)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- FOR THE CORIANDER CHUTNEY
- 1 small bunch fresh coriander leaves and fine stems
- 3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
- 1 clove garlic – smashed and roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh grated coconut or frozen
- 2 tablespoons toasted almond flakes
- 1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt
- 1 roughly chopped green chilli
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Start by making the coriander chutney.
- Place all of the raita ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. You could also do this in a pestle and mortar but it takes a while longer. Set aside.
- Now heat the olive oil for the sea bass in a large frying pan over medium high heat until hot but not smoking.
- Season your bass fillets on both side with salt and pepper.
- Place the fillets skin side down and press them down with your finger or a spatula so that the skin fries evenly.
- When the sea bass is about 80% cooked through, carefully flip them over and fry for about another minute.
- Place the sea bass fillets skin side up on a warmed plate. Drizzle with a little bit of the chutney and spoon the rest of the raita next to the sea bass.
- Serve with limes, chopped birds-eye chile (if using) and a green salad.
I hope you enjoy this seared sea bass recipe. I you do try it, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.