Oven-Steamed Sea Bass with Wild Mushrooms

• Recipe by Nobuo Fukuda

This aromatic dish of buttery sea bass in a light shiitake-and oyster-mushroom sauce leads restaurateur Peter Kasperski to the wine world’s most compellingly aromatic red grape, Pinot Noir. Following Nobuo Fukuda’s lead, he suggests an earthy Burgundy, such as the silky 2005 Vincent Girardin Emotion de Terroirs Rouge; another fine option is the cherry-inflected 2006 Olivier Leflaive Cuvée Margot Bourgogne Rouge.

Ingredients

1. 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2. 2 garlic cloves, minced
3. 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps thinly sliced
4. 1/2 pound oyster mushrooms, thickly sliced
5. Salt and freshly ground pepper
6. Four 6-ounce sea bass fillets with skin, pin bones removed
7. 2 tablespoons soy sauce
8. 2 tablespoons sake

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 500°. In a small bowl, combine the butter and garlic. In a large skillet, melt half of the garlic butter. Add the shiitake and oyster mushrooms and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until tender and just beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
2. Tear 4 sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil, about 14 inches square. Spoon the mushrooms onto the foil squares and top with the fish fillets, skin side down. Spread the remaining garlic butter over the fillets and drizzle with the soy sauce and sake. Fold the foil over the fish and seal the edges of the packets. Set them seam side up on a sturdy baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, until the fish is tender. Transfer the fish to plates, spoon the mushrooms and juices on top and serve.

Serve With

Rice and vegetables