I have yet to make a long run down South for pelagics on the Whaler, but I spent last weekend at the Coronado’s looking for yellowtail without any success, however we did manage some impressive calico bass with one 5 pounder topping the score sheet, which was used for this recipe and photo. We also had live squid leftover which is what inspired this recipe. You can use any kind of Asian flavored sauce and simply add some Vietnamese Chili Sauce to finish off the squid at the end of the recipe.
Ingredients
Serves 4
- 4 Calico Bass Fillets, butterflied open
- 1 TBSP. Your favorite Seasoning Mix
- 4 Oz. Sweet Butter
- 2 Pounds Squid, Cleaned, Tubes & Tentacles
- ½ Pound Chopped, Raw Shrimp
- ½ Pound Bay Scallops
- 1 Celery Stalk, preferably with some center leaves, ¼” dice
- 1 large Clove Garlic, Chopped
- 1 Small Onion, ¼” dice
- 1 Red Pepper, ¼” dice
- 3 TBSP. Mayonnaise
- ½ TBSP. Old Bay Seasoning
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
- Fresh Ground Black Pepper
- 2 TBSP. Chopped Chives & Flat Leaf Parsley, combined
- 1 TBSP. Grated Parmesan Cheese
- ¼ Italian Flavored Bread Crumbs
- ¼ Cup Yakiniku Sauce-We get this from an LA specialty Warehouse, but use any Asian flavored sauce you like.
Directions
First, fillet & prepare your Calico bass butterflied open a little bit to help hold the stuffing mix. Sprinkle some seasoning salt evenly on the fillet & place on a sheet pan. Hold in refrigerator.
Heat up a stock pot to medium, add ½ of thebutter, onions, celery, garlic and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes until it softens up.
Add in the scallops, shrimp & HALF OF THE SQUID and simmer for 10 minutes to cook the seafood.
Take the OTHER HALF OF THE SQUID & MIX IT WITH THE YAKINIKU SAUCE and hold in the fridge.
Turn the heat a bit lower now and add the mayonnaise, worcestershire & simmer another 5 minutes.
Check the seasoning and add the Old Bay as needed. Remember that Old Bay is salty and that you can always add more, however you cannot remove it once in the mix.
At this point you can turn the heat to low and then add the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese and gently stir thoroughly into mix so the bread crumbs can thicken up the mix. Add the fresh chives & parsley, check seasoning one more time and perhaps add some fresh ground black pepper.
Preheat your oven to 375.
Let the mix cool just a little bit and then stuff your Calico fillets. Flake the remaining butter on top of the stuffed Calico fillets and bake for 20-30 minutes until the deepest internal temperature reaches 145F.
TIP– If you stuff your fillets with warm stuffing, it will help the fish cook quicker so that you can avoid over cooking the fish.
You are almost done, but now comes the most CRITICAL part of this dish! Have a high quality, non stick pan at hand and heat it up to medium-high.
Drizzle in some olive oil & take the remaining squid that has marinated in the Yakiniku sauce and aggressively sear the squid in order to char it a little bit as the sauce has sugar in it. Quick flash sauté the squid and then plate up the stuffed bass and top with the flash charred squid and serve.
I did serve this on a center cut, charred cauliflower steak that I simply seasoned with Italian dressing and pre-cooked to be ready for service.You can see it on the bottom of the fish.
Squid Stuffed Calico Bass
