Branzino
This simple, easy to follow, short taking time – only more or less 30 minutes-, homemade recipe of Branzino –The Italian Name For European Sea Bass- with Japanese Seasonings, smoked and pan-grilled using fresh Branzino fish fillet will give you a very excellent taste of seafood dish with high –end restaurant quality! Do try!!
Branzino is an Italian word to call the European Sea Bass. This fish origin is in the Mediterranean of Western Europe. The fish is very famous in Italy and it is usually served as a whole roasted fish with lemon, olive oil and Italian Parsley.
With its silver skin, lean and long body and many scales, the fish usually weighs from 1-3 lbs. After you cook the fish, you will get a soft white flesh and many people really love its light, flaky texture and delicate flavor.
As mentioned earlier, the fish is usually served at high-end restaurants in America or Europe. It is strongly recommended for you to try out this Barnzino recipe if you have the fish because the taste is certainly and really delicious.
Basically, you can serve Branzino in two ways either as a whole fish or as fish fillets. No matter what your choice is, the taste will be tasty, tempting and appetizing.
Anyway, culturally many Americans don’t serve the fish as a whole with its tail, head and fish bones. If Branzino fillets are the choice, then you can pan-sear, bake in the oven or roast the Branzino fillets.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO CLEAN UP BRANZINO?
It’s not that difficult to clean up Branzino. First of all, the fish is scaled completely. A chef’s knife is used to scrape off the scales. The scales are scrapped in an upward move to remove the scales. You must not scrape off the silver skin.
And then, the gills are removed by using your hand. Next, the fish is disemboweled. An opening is sliced along the fish stomach, all the way from below the gill down to the base part of the fish stomach.
Much fatty guts are inside the stomach cavity. The fatty guts can be pulled out by using your hand. A pair of kitchen scissors is used to help you chop off the guts or the internal organs of the fish.
After that, the inside and outside of the fish are cleaned up completely using cold running water after you gut or take out the internal organ of the fish.
Finally, the fish is pat-dried with paper towels and you have your fish ready to cook as a whole or chop into fillets. The most common way to cook Branzino is by grilling the whole fish. But as mentioned earlier, you can also bake the fish in the oven or roast the fish.
Last but not least, Branzino is really good for you not only because it is served in high-end restaurants but also because it is an excellent source of proteins and vitamins.
HOW MANYCALORIES OF BRANZINO PER SERVING?
Branzino has only 344 calories per serving.
WHAT MEALS TO SERVE WITH BRANZINO?
Some other Japanese Food such as Miso Soup, Edamame, Chicken Teriyaki, and Japanese Rolled Omelet can be served together with Branzino for more complete Japanese meal at home and for more complete weekday lunch or weeknight dinner.
COURSE : MAIN COURSE
CUISINE : ASIAN (JAPANESE)
KEYWORD : BRANZINO FISH
PREP TIME : 20 MINUTES
COOK TIME : 10 MINUTES
TOTAL TIME : 30 MINUTES
SERVINGS : 2 PEOPLE
CALORIES : 344 CALORIES
INGREDIENTS :
- 1 lb of whole Branzino fish
- 1 tablespoon of cooking oil
FOR THE MARINADE :
- 1 tablespoon of Japanese cooking sake
- 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon of Japanese mirin ( Japanese sweet cooking wine)
INSTRUCTIONS :
FOR CLEANING UP THE BRANZINO :
- The fish is cleaned up with cold running water. It is pat-dried with paper towels. The fish is laid on a cutting board.
- A pair of a Chef’s knife is used to scrape off the scales with an upward move. Both sides of the Branzino fish must be well scaled and cleaned off. The sides of the fish must not be missed.
FOR CUTTING WHOLE BRANZINO INTO BRANZINO FILLETS :
- The Chef’s knife is positioned horizontally. Begin with the tail and slice into the flesh. You must get as near as possible to the bone to get the most fillets out of the whole fish.
- The fish is sliced in an upward move and the fillets are chopped off from the body of the fish. The same step is repeated for the other side of the fish. The belly and head part are left out. You must slice off as much flesh of the fish as possible.
- The Branzino fillets are chopped into smaller bite-sized pieces.
Next, prepare a container. All the ingredients in Marinade are mixed together in the container. They are stirred to mix properly. The Branzino fillets are removed into the Marinade. You must be sure that both sides are well-coated with the Marinade. The container is covered and it is let marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours or to get the best result for overnight.
FOR GRILLING THE BRANZINO :
- The Branzino can be grilled with an outdoor grill or pan grill with a large frying pan. The large frying pan is heated up on medium heat with 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. The fish fillets are removed with the skin side down.
- The fish fillets are pan-grilled and cooked until the skin becomes crunchy for more or less 1 minute. The fish fillets are flipped over slowly and the other side of the fish fillets are cooked completely and a little bit browned and a little bit burned or charred.
- The fish fillets are removed out slowly and they are let cool on the plate. A stovetop smoker is heated up with 1 tablespoon of wood chips to smoke the fish fillets. The fish fillets are placed on a sheet of aluminum foil and they are covered with the lid.
- A medium-low heat is turned on and they are smoked for 5 minutes. The smoker is removed from heat and the fish fillets are let smoke for another 5 minutes.
- The Branzino fish is removed out and it is quickly served with some small greens and Japanese Salmon Roes.