Kombu-Cured Sea Bass
As seen on TV
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Kombu-Cured Wild Sea Bass with Red Curry Sauce and Crab Salad.
Brazilian-born private chef Caroline cured wild sea bass in kombu seaweed before cooking it on the barbecue, aiming for charred skin with a saline, seaweed-infused flavor. Caroline: "I'm doing a wild sea bass that's going to be cooked in the barbecue. I'm doing a pea puree with Thai basil and coconut cream. My intention is to pick up the white crab meat and to make it into a croquette with chili going through it." Unable to decide how to bind the croquette in time, she pivoted to a fresh claw meat salad with chili and radishes. Caroline: "I did pick the crab meat, and I'm serving it fresh with some chili and radishes." Her red curry sauce was made with red peppers, tomatoes, and coconut cream. Caroline: "There needs to be that chili heat running through it to balance out the fact that it's got coconut cream in." She went three minutes over time. {Judge}: "She's cured it with kombu seaweed - I hope we get to taste some of those flavors of the kombu running through it. A great Thai red curry sauce is about getting the spices cooked off. It's not a sauce you want to rush."
{Judge}: "I think the sea bass is beautifully cooked. I'm definitely getting that salty seaweed kombu taste to it. I'm loving the red curry sauce. It's got a bit of kick to it. I do really like that little crab salad. I think it's delicious with the fish. I feel like those elements work really well together, and I wish she just maybe pulled back a little bit on some of these extra garnishes, which aren't really that necessary." {Judge}: "The fish is nicely cooked. The Thai sauce is lovely. It's got good heat to it. Right spices. It's a dish that has great things on it, but there's just too much."
