Simple Pan Roasted Sea Bass with Coconut Curry

I absolutely love sea bass for it's clean flavor and delicate texture, but it's so clean I've always felt it needs something more than just the salt and pepper treatment recommended to us by our local fishmonger.  This is my first attempt at a curry and I am extremely pleased with the results.   The sauce has a very light curry flavor and would work great with any white meat if you don't care for fish. 

Pan Roasted Sea Bass with Coconut Curry

Sea Bass Ingredients:

4 filets of sea bass

3 tablespoons canola oil

salt

pepper

Curry Ingredients:

½ tablespoons canola oil

½ large onion thinly sliced

½ red pepper thinly sliced

1 3.2 oz package shitake mushrooms sliced

1 13.5 fl oz can light coconut milk

3 stems fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 dash turmeric

1 pinch dried ginger

salt to taste

cayenne pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sauté onions and red pepper in ½ tablespoon of the canola oil over medium heat until onion and pepper begin to soften.  Add shitake mushrooms, curry powder, turmeric and ginger.  Stir over medium heat approximately one minute to distribute spices.  Add coconut milk and cilantro and continue cooking over medium heat whisking occasionally until slightly reduced (This should take approximately 15 minutes). 

In a separate large sauté or fry pan, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of canola oil until it’s so hot it sizzles when you sprinkle a drop of water in the pan. 

Season the fillets with sea salt and pepper and add to the hot pan skin side down for approximately 5 minutes until the skin is nice and crispy.  Flip over for 30 seconds.  If you have an ovenproof pan transfer the pan to the 450° oven and roast 3-4 minutes or until fish is opaque and cooked through.  If your pan is not oven proof then transfer fish to a baking sheet coated in nonstick spray before cooking in the oven.  (Note: if you do transfer to a baking sheet it will take slightly longer to cook so you’ll probably have to up your baking time to closer to 6 minutes.)
Serve sea bass immediately with curry sauce and a side of steamed fresh green beans.