Oil poaching fish gives it a really wonderful flavor and texture, but doing it the traditional way always feels very wasteful to me because you have to use such an incredible quantity of oil that you then have to toss.
Doing it sous vide threads this needle. By vacuum packing the fish, you need a lot less oil, but still get the fish completely bathed in it.
This is the recipe for one serving. While it would likely be just fine to scale this up by simple multiplication, for best results, I would prepare everything in individual portions.
Note that in this case the fish is being cooked at a temperature higher than our target. Do not leave the fish in the bath for an extended period, or it will be very overcooked.
Ingredients
- 30 g olive oil
- Handful cherry tomatoes, halved
- 20 g fresh ginger, grated
- 3 sprigs thyme
- Lemon zest
- Salt
- 150 g cod loin
Method
Heat a water bath to 61 °C.
In a small bowl, stir together the oil, tomatoes, ginger, thyme, and lemon zest with salt to taste. Then transfer that mixture to a vacuum bag and gently add the fish.
Cook the fish in the water bath for 15 minutes. Then let it rest for five minutes before serving.