Branzino, also known as Mediterranean Bass or European Bass, is a delicately flavored flakey white fish. This recipe requires good quality fresh whole branzino, this is important because the method used strongly amplifies the fish’s flavor and brightens it up with lemon juice, white wine, and plenty of parsley. A great dish that is light in calories but showcases a lot of fresh flavors. Also, fish sounds like abundance in Chinese so it is a symbol for wealth and prosperity. That’s why in Chinese new year dinner you can always find a whole fish dish. If you want to try a novel way of preparing the fish dish for Chinese new year, this recipe is the way to go!

Preparation List for Quick Branzino Recipe (one-pan)

• Servings: 4
• Total Time: 30 min
• Ingredients:
  • 2 fresh whole branzino, cleaned
  • 1 white onion, sliced
  • 1 bunch of flat leaf parsley (curly leaf is also ok) chopped
  • 1/2 large lemon ( or whole small lemon) cut into round slices
  • 1/3 cup(80ml) white wine
  • 4 tablespoons(60ml) olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons(27g) drained capers
  • 3 tablespoons(40g) unsalted butter
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • fresh cracked black pepper
  • salt

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Quick Branzino Recipe(one-pan)

• Bake fish. Add remaining slices of onion to the bottom of an oven safe flame proof pan as shown below. Add fish to the pan, placing on top of the onion slices. Place fish in the oven and bake for 5 minutes, then flip each fish carefully not to damage the skin of the fish ( I found this to be easier with a spatula and wood spoon). Bake for another 7 minutes or so until the fish is cooked (inner flesh is white and flakes easily and internal temperature is 145 F/60C). Then turn the broiler on in your oven and set it to high. Broil the fish until the skin is charred to the desired level, I like to check on the fish every minute or so and carefully turn it. It tends to take around 4 minutes to get a good char in my oven.

• Prepare Sauce for Fish. Once the fish is done, take fish out of the oven. Any onion or lemon left in the fish cavity should be pushed into the pan. Remove the fish from the pan and reserve. Place the pan on a burner and turn to medium. Add the 1/3 cup(80ml) of white wine and use a spatula or wooden spoon to scrape the burnt bits off the bottom of the pan. Let wine reduce to half the original volume. Using tongs or a fork remove all the onion and lemon and discard. Add 1/3 cup(80ml) room temp water to the pan, the 1 bundle of chopped parsley, the 3 cloves of chopped garlic, and 3 tablespoons (27g) drained capers and then cover and cook for 3-5 minutes or until the parsley as has softened and the garlic is cooked soft. Once parsley is soft, turn off the heat and add the 3 tablespoons(40g) unsalted butter to the pan and gently whisk the butter as shown below until it is fully melted and blended with the rest of the greens and cooked garlic. Pour sauce over cooked fish and serve.