The author of this smoked Aquanaria sea bass recipe is María José Martínez, owner and chef at Restaurante Lienzo* in Valencia. María José is the winner of the 4th Aquanaria Madrid Fusión 2024 Sustainability Award, for her fantastic work in beekeeping. From a young age she showed an interest in cooking and, although she started off studying chemistry, she soon focused her training on gastronomy. Before taking the reins at Lienzo, she worked in restaurants such as El Poblet** by Quique Dacosta. María José’s cooking focuses on Valencian products, which she incorporates with care and personality into her dishes, and her hallmark is honey, which she uses as a surprising star ingredient.
Aquanaria is Spain’s leading marine aquaculture company. Our aim is to be the sustainable alternative to wild sea bass, whose population is seriously depleted due to overfishing. The careful process of raising our sea bass combined with careful feeding and a fishing system which generates the minimum amount of stress for the animal, allows us to obtain a high-quality product with a low environmental impact. Thanks to this, there are already may restaurants highly committed to sustainability such as Muxgo (Green Michelin Star), Amvibium (Red Michelin Star and Green Michelin Star) and Venta Moncavillo (two Red Michelin Stars and one Green Michelin Star), which use Aquanaria sea bass.
SMOKED SEA BASS
Smoking is an ancient preservation technique widely used for both meat and fish. This technique is currently used to change the aroma and texture of a product rather than to preserve it. There are two kinds of smoking: cold, when the temperatures do not exceed 30ºC, and hot, above 60ºC. The choice of wood is also very important, as it conditions the type of aromas which will develop.
For this recipe, María José smoked the fish cold using plum wood, which is hard and slow burning and adds gentle nutty and fruity aromas. These flavour notes pair perfectly with the delicate flavour or Aquanaria sea bass.
METHOD
Smoked Sea Bass:
- Descale the sea bass using the sukibiki method
- Gut the fish, setting the liver aside
- Remove the fillets
- Separate and set aside the rest of the parts and the bones
- Debone the sea bass fillets
- Leave the fillets in a mixture of salt and sugar for an hour and a half
- Clean with water and dry well
- Place on perforated trays with perforated greaseproof paper, skin side up.
- Smoke in the smokehouse at 30°C, with the flue closed and ventilation at minimum for 4 hours. For smoking, use a special heating element in which to insert the plum wood chips.
Sea bass liver pate:
- Bleed the livers in ice water
- Open like a book and season
- Remove the veins
- Roll up with film and cook 57°C for one hour.
- Beat.
Creamed Spinach:
- Slice the garlic and fry until lightly golden
- Add the chopped and washed spinach and leave to reduce to ⅓ of the original volume
- Add the water and cook on a medium heat for about half an hour
- Blend on full power in food processor for two minutes and pass through a fine sieve.
- Cool rapidly.
Sea Bass Sobrasada:
- Crush the salt with the pepper and cloves using a mortar and pestle
- Add all the ingredients to a food blender and blend until on full power until a smooth paste is achieved.
- Spread 0.5cm thick on a flexible baking sheet and freeze
- Cut into 3 cm diameter discs
- Wrap in blanched spinach leaves.
PLATING
Arrange the spinach sauce on the base of the plate and spread in a circular pattern. Place the sea bass on one side of the circle and the sobrasada on the opposite side. Place the liver pate between the sea bass and the sobrasada and decorate with three toasted pine nuts and a borage flower.
