Sea Bass with Braised Fennel and Cucumber

Name: Sea Bass with Braised Fennel and Cucumber
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1 × 1.3-1.6 kg/3-3½ lb sea bass; a little oil to grease a grilling tray; 1 bulb of fennel weighing about 175 g/6 oz; juice of ¼ lemon; 4-6 cardamom pods; 15 ml/1 tbsp Pernod; 60 ml/2 fl oz dark soy sauce; 300 ml/10 fl oz fish stock; 175 ml/6 fl oz veal stock; 30 ml/1 fl oz sesame oil; 40 g/1½ oz unsalted butter; 1 cucumber; a good pinch of sugar; salt and freshly ground white pepper; salt and freshly ground white pepper

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

A Feast of Fish 2

By Ian McAndrew

Published 1999

About

I have never been a great admirer of cucumber but it works quite well with fish a lot of the time. I prefer my sea bass grilled, but this dish will work just as well with the fish poached.

Ingredients

1 × 1.3-1.6 kg/3-3½ lb sea bass
a little oil to grease a grilling t

Europe
United Kingdom
Main course

Method

Begin by scaling and filleting the sea bass, then removing the line of pin bones. Cut each fillet into two portions, as even as possible.

Trim the fennel of any discoloured or dry areas; cut the bulb in half and then chop each half into wedges. You will need at least 4 wedges per portion. Place these in a saucepan along with the butter, lemon juice, fish stock, cardamom pods, sugar, sea