Grilling a whole sea bass is a wonderful barbecuing experience. In addition to looking impressive, it is super tasty and has a juicy texture. The barbecue provides a delicious smoky flavor.
You can go in different directions with a sea bass. You can prepare it in a salt crust or simply brush it with oil, season it and then place it on the grill. This way you get beautiful grill patterns in the skin of the fish and a nice smoky taste.
You could also wrap it in aluminum foil. This will steam the fish so that it retains its moisture. A disadvantage of this is that you don’t get a crispy skin or a good smoke flavor.
Below we opt for a grilled sea bass directly on the grill grate. We serve the sea bass with a delicious complementary herb vinaigrette. You can judge this dish for yourself.
Preparing the sea bass
In this recipe we are going to do three things: stuff the sea bass, make a baste and make an herb vinaigrette.
First of all, we fill the sea bass with slices of lemon and lime, sprigs of rosemary and thyme and add salt and pepper.
Then, we grease it with a baste. This is a mixture of oil, garlic, rosemary, black pepper and lemon juice. We spread this over the fish with a brush, so that it becomes greasy.
When the barbecue is up to temperature, we put the fish on the grid. Make sure you grease the grid well with oil. Otherwise the skin of the fish will stick to the grid and you don’t want that.
Finally, we make an herb vinaigrette. The herbs are green herbs such as chives, tarragon and parsley.
Grilled sea bass with an herb vinaigrette
Ingredients
Sea bass
- 1 sea bass cleaned
- 3 slices lemon
- 3 slices lime
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 2 sprigs thyme
- salt
- pepper
Baste
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 1 tsp pepper
- lemon juice
Herbal vinaigrette
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- salt
- pepper
- 100 ml olive oil
- 1 tsp chives
- 1 tsp tarragon
- 1 tsp parsley
Instructions
Herbal vinaigrette
- Put the mustard and white wine vinegar in a bowl and add a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Gradually whisk in the oil while pouring it in a thin stream. The sauce should thicken a bit. Then whisk in the lemon juice and chives, tarragon and parsley.
Preparing the sea bass
- Rinse the sea bass under cold water and pat it dry with kitchen paper. Sprinkle the inside of the abdominal cavity with some salt and pepper.
- Now we are going to fill the sea bass. Divide the slices of lemon and lime in the abdominal cavity. Also add the sprigs of rosemary and thyme. Tie the sea bass with the twine.
Baste
- Heat three tablespoons of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the crushed garlic. Also add the rosemary and pepper. Make sure the garlic doesn’t turn black. The baste is ready when the garlic turns brown.
- Put the baste in a bowl and add some lemon juice.
Grilling the sea bass
- Prepare the barbecue for direct grilling. Maintain a temperature of about 250 °C.
- Spread the baste with a brush on both sides of the sea bass. Also sprinkle the sea bass with some salt. Place the sea bass on the barbecue and grill both sides for 5 minutes until they are nicely browned. The fish is ready when it feels firm to the touch.
- Remove the sea bass from the barbecue and drizzle it with the vinaigrette.
