Boiled Bass
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the fish
Place the cleaned bass in a saucepan and cover it with water.
Add 2 tablespoons of coarse sea salt.
Bring the water to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes.
Check if a fin pulls out easily. If so, remove the fish from the water.
Serve
Transfer the fish to a platter.
Surround the fish with 6 hard-boiled eggs.
Serve with your choice of sauce.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Bass
- Is the main protein, cooked gently in simmering water until it flakes.
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Add richness and a mild, creamy contrast to the lean fish.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the poaching water so the fish is flavoured as it cooks.
The step that matters
Checking the fin before removing the fish. Fish keeps cooking from residual heat after the pan leaves the burner. Pulling it out as soon as a fin releases easily helps prevent it from becoming dry and tough.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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