Fish is the healthier option to all that red meat, so they say. Fish-loving me will go along with that, even if I am not sure if some of it is hype put out by the fish lobby to trounce the competition.

First things first: This is the real sea bass, not the character from Dumb and Dumber or the nickname of a certain French rugby player.

And I admit I was very happy to get this assignment for fish with a curry sauce. First, because I now eat fish due to continuing health problems that prevent me from eating red meat. Fish now figures in my sinful culinary fantasies, like the cravings of pregnancy, after hungrily watching the creations of international chefs on TV.

Second, I was learning the ropes from Chef de Cuisine Gran Melia Hotel Geert Vermeulen.

We headed off to Ranch Market in Warung Buncit, South Jakarta, to in search of fish. Geert advised buying fish with dark gills. “The darker the gills, the fresher the fish,” he said as he pored over a fish perched on a mountain of ice at the store.

He added that the eyes should be dark but clear, not cloudy, to indicate it was fresh catch.

I thought to myself that I would be left on the shelf if I was a gilled creature, as I am already developing cataracts.

Geert, the amiable Belgian chef who also helped put together our March cover, is a fast worker. He went from aisle to aisle picking out the spices and the freshest fruit and vegetables for the dish.

He later showed me how to make proper boiled potatoes, by boiling them for a couple of minutes, blanching them in cold water, before cooking them again. They were just right.

Thanks to Geert’s masterful help, both in the store and later in the kitchen, it all went off without a hitch.

RECIPE AND TIPS
Seabass with Curry Sauce

Recipe:
Sauce:
Ingredients:
Olive oil, onion, celery, carrots, leek, garlic, ginger, turmeric, curry, flour, fish stock, thyme or rosemary, coconut milk, cream, balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, pineapple, mango, apple, strawberries.

Method:
Dice all the vegetables, sautee in olive oil, mix in the ginger, turmeric, garlic, thyme, flour and the curry until dry, add chicken stock and reduce.

Put in a little coconut milk and cream and finish with the balsamic vinegar and the fresh fruit.

Fish:
160 gr seabass pan-fried in olive oil for 1 minute on each side; finish in the oven for 10 minutes at 180 degrees.

Vegetables:
- Asparagus, zucchini, carrots, cherry tomatoes, broccoli.
Blanch all the vegetables salted water.

Parsley Potato:
- Blanch in salted water and fry in a pan with butter and parsley.
- Garnish with fried celery root.

TIPS:

1. Picking out fresh fish
    - Gills should be dark red in color.
    - Fish should have bulging eyes, firm scales and firm flesh.

2. Cutting the fish
    - Clean the scales up to the skin.
    - Clean the stomach.
    - Cut off the head.
    - Cut the fish in 2 parts from the middle just behind the bone and take the
      big bone out.
    - Take the small bone in the middle of each filet with the pincer.
    - Slice your fish in portions.

3. Using fruit in the sauce
    I add the fruit at the last minute to the sauce to enhance the taste. If you put the fruit in at the beginning of the cooking, the taste and freshness of the fruit will disappear, and it will resemble marmalade.

4. Alternatives to celery root?
   The fried celery root serves as garnish, and fried potato or fried carrot can be used instead.

Crystal Clear
Crystal Jade Restaurant and Crystal Jade My Bread have opened their first outlet in crowded Jakarta. Located on the third floor of Plaza Senayan, Crystal offers fine and casual dining. It’s your chance to make some extreme fashion choices, such as a formal jacket and jeans. As well as the heavier dishes of Chinese cuisine, there are Hong Kong buns, tarts, dim sum and pastries available at the adjoining bread store.

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RECIPE AND TIPS Seabass with Curry Sauce

RECIPE AND TIPS
Seabass with Curry Sauce