Sea Bass Spring Rolls with Pineapple Dipping Sauce

I caught Nigel Slater’s Simple Suppers on Friday and loved the idea of his guests’ Anh Vu & Van Tran spring rolls, especially as I had a frozen sea bass in the freezer left over from my last fishy foray.

It was slightly time consuming but easy apart from the gutting and scaling of the fish which I did very inexpertly! As there was lots of marinade left over after the fish was put on the grill, I added it towards the end of stir frying steamed asparagus and courgette to infuse them with the lemongrass, chilli and citrus flavored liquid.

• For the marinade, combine 1 Garlic Clove, peeled and chopped, 1 Red Chilli, finely chopped, 50g Fresh Ginger, chopped, 2-4 Sprigs of Dill, chopped, 1 tbsp Sugar,  4 tbsp Lemon Juice and 4 tbsp Water. Add some Fish Sauce to taste (about 2 tbsp).
• Put 1 whole gutted and scaled Sea Bass in a dish. Make three slits through the skin of the fish on both sides. Place 1-2 stalks of bruised Lemongrass in the slits and rub the marinade all over the skin and inside the fish. Leave for 20-30 minutes.
• Heat a BBQ or grill pan to high and cook the fish for about 10 minutes on either side. N.B. My skin stuck so I’d drizzle some oil over the skin beforehand.  Set aside to cool.
• For the dipping sauce, combine 250g fresh Pineapple, puréed, 3 tbsp Fish Sauce, 1 tbsp Lemon Juice, 1 Red Chilli, finely chopped.
• To assemble: Have ready 12 Rice Spring Roll Wrappers, a bowl of Water, 100g cooke Rice Vermicelli, 200g Carrots, grated, ½ Pineapple,  ½ deseeded Cucumber and ½ Courgette all cut into thin matchsticks and a bunch of fresh Dill.
• Wet a rice paper sheet by dipping your fingers in the water and running over the surface. Place a pinch of the Noodles and a tbsp of Sea Bass flesh in the centre and fold the paper in half over the filling. Then add 1-2 pieces of Pineapple, Cucumber and Courgette and a sprig of Dill. Fold the sides in and roll up.