Sea bass balsamic vinegar and chicory

Cleaning the sea bass -- 30 minutes

You can ask your fishmonger to clean the fish for you, or you can just buy the fillets and skip this step. If you decided to buy a whole sea bass as we did, here's how to clean the fish.

As fish have scales on their skin, you’ll need to remove those before cooking. While cleaning, the scales can jump around and so it can get messy. Therefore I’ve decided to put my sea bass in the kitchen sink so it’s easier to clean up afterwards.

Be careful when the fish has sharp fins, most fishes can cut your hand easily. Use the back of your knife and go against the scales. For a good grip, grab the tail of the fish with a clean towel.

Clean the fish with running cold water and check to see if all of the scales have been removed. CUT lengthwise into the fish its stomach and remove all its entrails.

Clean the fish carefully under cold running water. Cut into the fish, down to the bone behind the head. Follow the bone with your knife, from head to tail to remove the upper fillet.

Do the same for the other fillet. Remove the membrane and the parts with blood from both of the fillets. Remove any bones that are left in the fillets with a fish tweezer. 

Preparing the fish -- 15 minutes

CUT the chicory in half lengthwise, remove the hard inside and then cut the rest into thin slices. Drizzle with some olive oil and a little bit of orange juice if you prefer.

Season with salt and pepper. Cut the cherry tomatoes in quarters and set them aside. PAT the fillets dry with a paper towel and rub some olive oil onto both sides of the fillets.

Heat the grill pan and grill the fish for about 1 to 2 minutes, then turn to create the grill marks and repeat on the other side. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the fillets from the grill pan and add the balsamic vinegar to the same pan.

Let it simmer for a few minutes, this way all the flavour from the pan will be dissolved into the balsamic vinegar and it will thicken a little bit.

Divide the chicory over 2 plates, place the fillets on top and also divide the cherry tomatoes. Finish it off with the balsamic vinegar reduction. It's that easy, enjoy!