Title: Smoked Chilean Sea Bass with Thai Vinaigrette Pt 1
Categories: Blank
Yield: 1 Servings

SEA BASS AND TEA SMOKE
4		4 oz Chilean sea bass fillets; skin off
2	tb	Uncooked rice
4		Whole cloves
1	ts	Leaves from 2 Earl Grey tea bags; removed from
		; packets
1/4	ts	Light olive oil with a dash of toasted
		; sesame oil
COUSCOUS
1/2	ts	Light olive oil with a dash of toasted
		; sesame oil
1/4	c	Roughly chopped fresh lemongrass
2	tb	Finely chopped fresh ginger root
1/4	c	Chopped green onion; white bulb only
		Grated zest of 1/2 lime
3 3/4	c	Fish stock
1		Pinches freshly ground sea salt
10	oz	Instant couscous
VINAIGRETTE
1	c	Reserved seasoned fish stock
1	tb	Thinly sliced fresh ginger root
1/4	c	Thinly sliced fresh lemongrass
3	tb	Freshly squeezed lime juice
1	tb	Low sodium soy sauce
2	tb	Light olive oil
1/4	ts	Toasted sesame oil
2	tb	Fresh coriander leaves
12		Fresh mint leaves
2	ts	Arrowroot mixed with 4tsp reserved; (slurry)
		; vinaigrette
RAW VEGETABLE GARNISH
1		5 inch piece fresh ginger root; sliced into 4 flat
		; pieces lengthways,
		; up to 6
2		Green onions; sliced lengthways
		; into thin pieces
1		Red bell pepper; cut into long
		; toothpick size
		; strips
1/2		English cucumber; cut into long thin
		; strips
1		Carrot; cut into long thin
		; strips
		Mint leaves; sliced thinly

The sea bass and tea smoke: rinse and pat dry the fish fillets with a paper towel. Cut 3 sheets of heavy duty aluminium foil into 15 inch squares. Roll the edges under to form a circle that fits in the bottom of a Dutch oven. The pot should not be made of a light alloy or alloy bonded to other metals. Cast iron, aluminium or steel pans work fine. You should have a foil "saucer" about 5 inches in diameter. When the edge is rolled to about 1 inch high, stop and flatten the foil. Depress the centre to hold the smoke ingredients.

In the depression of the aluminium foil saucer, sprinkle the rice on the bottom, the cloves and then the contents of the tea bags. Place the foil dish in the bottom of the Dutch oven, cover the pan tightly and cook over high heat until the ingredients in the foil start smoking, about 5 minutes.

Brush a long-legged steamer basket with the olive oil. Place the sea bass ion the steamer platform. Put into the Dutch oven over the smoke ingredients, cover, and continue smoking over high heat until cooked through, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

The couscous: pour the oil into a medium saucepan and fry the lemongrass, ginger, green onion and lime zest for 2 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes to allow for infusion and reduction. Strain into a large measuring cup - you want to have 3 cups of liquid. Reserve 1 cup for the vinaigrette. Pour the remaining 2 cups back into the saucepan and bring back to a boil. Stir in the salt and couscous, cover, remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

The vinaigrette: in a medium saucepan, combine the reserved stock, ginger and lemongrass and boil until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 10 minutes. Strain into a blender jar. Add the lime juice, soy sauce, olive oil, sesame oil, coriander and mint leaves and whiz for 2 minutes to emulsify

continued in part 2

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