Pan Seared Sea Bass with Lime Cream Sauce

Method

1. Marinate 2 sea bass fillets of 100g each with salt, black pepper and 1 teaspoon lime juice for 5 minutes. Rinse 4 baby carrots, and cut 100g asparagus into lengths and trim the woody ends.
2. Make the lime cream sauce: fry 25g sliced shallot with 30g unsalted butter until fragrant, pour in 100ml white wine and 1/2 teaspoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend and reduce it by half.
3. Add 1 tablespoon all purpose flour with 250ml water and stir until dissolved. Lower the heat and cook for 15 minutes, add 50ml cream, then season with 1 teaspoon seasoning powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, black pepper and 1 teaspoon lime juice to taste.
4. Let the sauce cool a little, then blend it, dropping in the remaining 30g chilled unsalted butter slowly as it blends, until the sauce is smooth.
5. Sear the fish in a little cooking oil until golden on both sides.
6. Boil the baby carrots and asparagus, then toss them briefly in a pan with a little salt and black pepper.
7. Lay the fish on a plate, arrange the vegetables beside it, spoon the lime cream sauce over the top, garnish with a sprig of fresh dill and serve hot.

Tips

• Lime juice in the marinade takes the fishy edge off.
• Blend the sauce while it is hot and drop in cold butter piece by piece, which makes it light and smooth.
• The sauce needs a full 15 minutes so the flour cooks out completely.
• Sear the fish skin side first, pressing gently for a few seconds so the skin lies flat and crisps evenly.
• To cook without alcohol, chicken stock takes the place of the white wine, with a little lime juice to balance.