Pan fried sea bass in scallops and saffron broth

If you enjoy the traditionally baked or grilled sea bass, this one will be one of your new favourites. I was inspired to make a pan fried sea bass in a scallops and saffron broth after having had the amazing opportunity to dine at one of Manchester’s finest restaurants.

This dish is quick and easy to make, with 5 minutes preparation and 15 minutes cooking. All the flavours compliment each other.

For the broth, I followed BBC good food’s recipe. I altered it a little as I used scallops, asparagus, spring onions, fresh parsley, a pinch of saffron strands, 1 garlic glove, salt and water.

I started by finely chopping the parsley and spring onions, followed by thinly slicing the garlic, and cutting the asparagus in thirds.

I then poured 200ml of water in a pan on medium heat. After a couple of seconds, I added the spring onions, garlic and saffron strands to the water. While the water was coming to a boil, I pan fried the asparagus on low heat with a teaspoon olive oil. Once the asparagus started cooking, I transferred them to the boiling water, which was shortly followed by the scallops after having cooked them. Once all the ingredients for the broth were added in the pan, I seasoned it with salt to taste and put the lid on to let it boil for some time.

I then moved on to prepare the fish where I scored and seasoned it with salt. Once that was done, I had my pan ready with a drizzle of olive oil. I placed the fish gently in the middle and let it fry for 2-3 minutes* on each side until it was golden. I then removed both the fish and broth from the heat.

I used a ladle to add the broth to the plate which was topped by the sea bass, garnished with fresh herbs.

*The time for the fish to fry on each side may vary