Ingredients
- 1 whole sea bass, about 800g–1kg, scaled, gutted and trimmed
- 180g brown jasmine rice
- 250g tenderstem broccoli
- 2 pak choi, roughly chopped
- 1 bunch spring onions, cut into 4–5cm lengths
- 2 lemongrass stalks
- 30g fresh ginger
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 limes
- 1 red chilli, finely sliced
- 30g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
- 20g fresh mint, leaves picked and roughly torn
- 40g unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 tbsp rapeseed or extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- black pepper
Method
Rinse the brown jasmine rice under cold water. Put it in a saucepan with 400ml cold water, bring to the boil, cover and reduce to a very low simmer. Cook for about 25–30 minutes, until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender. Remove from the heat and leave covered for 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200°C fan.
Line a large baking dish with foil. Make 3 or 4 shallow slashes on each side of the sea bass. Bash the lemongrass with the side of a knife and cut into short lengths. Thinly slice half the ginger and 2 garlic cloves.
Put the lemongrass, sliced ginger, garlic and a few coriander stalks inside the fish. Put the sea bass in a roasting dish, rub with 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp fish sauce, and squeeze over the juice of half a lime.
Bake for about 20–25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, until the flesh comes cleanly away from the bone at the thickest point.
While the fish cooks, finely chop the remaining ginger and garlic.
Heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan or wok over a high heat. Add the broccoli with a splash of water and stir-fry for about 3 minutes.
Add the pak choi, spring onions, ginger and garlic and stir-fry for another 2–3 minutes, so the vegetables are cooked but still retain some bite.
Mix the remaining 2 tbsp fish sauce, juice of 1 lime, honey and sesame oil. Pour over the vegetables and toss briefly over the heat.
Remove the sea bass from the oven. Mix the remaining lime juice with the juices in the roasting dish and spoon them back over the fish.
Scatter the fish and vegetables generously with the chilli, coriander, mint and chopped peanuts.
Serve the whole sea bass at the table with the brown jasmine rice and stir-fried greens alongside.
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