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Coconut-Crusted Thai Curry Sea Bass

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If you’re a fan of Thai flavours, you’re going to love this Coconut-Crusted Thai Curry Sea Bass. The fish is marinated in good-quality, shop-bought Thai red curry paste, before being encased in a coconut crust and fried to golden perfection. Served alongside a zingy cabbage slaw, it makes for a very delicious, balanced meal. 

  • Author: zenak
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale

For the sea bass:

  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil (or any neutral oil)
  • 2 tsp good-quality Thai red curry paste (see Notes)
  • 4 sea bass fillets (see Notes for substitutes)
  • 150g cornflour (cornstarch) 
  • 4 large eggs, beaten
  • 150g unsweetened desiccated coconut 
  • vegetable oil, or any neutral oil (for shallow frying)  

For the slaw:

  • 150g cabbage, very thinly sliced
  • 50g green beans, trimmed, very thinly sliced 
  • small handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped 
  • ½ green chilli, finely chopped (optional) 
  • ½ lime, juiced 
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce 
  • ½ tbsp sugar (or more, to taste) 

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, mix the vegetable oil and thai red curry paste until well-incorporated. Add the sea bass fillets and toss well to coat. Marinate for 15 minutes (alternatively, you can marinate the sea bass up to a day in advance and store it in the fridge). 
  2. Meanwhile, place the slaw ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss well to combine. Your hands are your best tools – use them to massage the dressing into the vegetables. Refrigerate while you go back to the fish. 
  3. Place the cornflour and eggs in two separate shallow bowls and season well with salt and pepper. Place the unsweetened desiccated coconut  in a third bowl.
  4. Dredge the sea bass fillets in the cornflour, then the egg, then the desiccated coconut, pressing to ensure they’re fully and evenly coated. 
  5. Heat a big glug of vegetable oil in a large frying pan set over a medium/medium-low heat (the heat level is important as you don’t want the coconut to burn). The oil should be about an inch deep.
  6. Cook the sea bass until golden on both sides and cooked all the way through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a wire rack or kitchen towel to drain. 
  7. Plate up the sea bass with a generous amount of slaw on the side then serve and enjoy. 
  8. Alternative cooking method: You can drizzle the fish with oil and roast or air fry it at 200℃ for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the fish is cooked and the crust is browned. That said, I do not recommend this method as the coconut crust will brown very unevenly and may dry out, which isn’t pleasant to eat.

Notes

  1. You can substitute the sea bass for another firm-fleshed fish such as cod, halibut or snapper.  Just make sure that you pound whatever fish you’re using to the thickness of a sea bass fillet to ensure it cooks at the same rate as the coconut crust does.
  2. My favourite Thai curry paste brands are Mae Ploy and Thai Taste. Where possible, avoid using supermarket-own brands.

Find it online: https://zenaskitchen.com/coconut-crusted-thai-curry-sea-bass/

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