Baked Bream with Fresh Ginger

Photo credit: © Eatwell101.comA simple and very fragrant sea bream recipe to start a good, long weekend. You may delegate all technical steps to your fishmonger (gutting and skinning the fish). You will have plenty of time available to set a pretty table, uncork the wine and prepare an nice accompaniment like Thai rice or mashed sweet potatoes. The sea bream is cooked alone in the oven (do not forget to water it from time to time) … who can pretend that fish is hard to cook after that?  The flavors of ginger, garlic and lemon grass make you instantly travel to Asia.

Ingredients: Baked Bream and Fresh Ginger

Serves 4 :

• A nice bream of 1 3/4 lbs (800 g), drained and flaked
• 4 stalks of lemongrass
• An inch piece of fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1 coffeespoon with sesame seeds
• 1 coffeespoon fish sauce or oyster sauce
• 2 coffeespoon soy sauce
• A few coriander leaves
• 1 lime (to serve)
• Some roasted peanuts (optional)

Cooking instructions: Baked Bream and Fresh Ginger

1. Preheat your oven to 360°F (180°c).
2. In a bowl, mix fish sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil. Add a tablespoon of water and sesame seeds. Set aside.
3. Peel garlic, cut it into thin strips. Peel ginger and cut it also into thin strips. Remove the outer leaves of lemongrass stalks and cut them lengthwise. Cut the remaining stalks into rounds.
4. Make cuts with a sharp knife on both sides of the sea bream. Place in the bottom of a large flat stalks of lemongrass and half the ginger and garlic. Baste the bream with sauce on both sides. Drop it in the dish. Top with remaining ginger, garlic and lemon grass sliding a few pieces in the slots. Pour a little sauce. Add a few coriander leaves and bake about twenty minutes, basting regularly.
5. Serve with lime wedges.
6. You can add a few chopped coriander leaves and chopped roasted peanuts.

The wine pairing: Riesling, Gewurztraminer or a Graves (white).

Tips: To ensure that your fish is well flavored, it is important to make deep cuts in the flesh on each side. Slip a few slices of garlic ginger and lemongrass into the slits. You can prepare the fish ahead and marinate in the fridge until ready to cook. It will only get better!

(Image Dominique Sauvages)