Introduzione
It can be tricky to nail the perfect doneness of flaky white on the stovetop or in the oven, as it quickly moves from undercooked and tough to dry and overcooked in a matter of minutes. Sous vide, on the other hand, makes it simple to nail your ideal texture, no matter the species of fish you’re cooking.
Sous Vide White Fish Basics
The basic steps for sous vide white fish are the same as they are for just about any sous vide protein. But while you’ll always want to finish a sous vide steak or pork chop, you can choose to serve your fish straight from the bag if you’d prefer.
Traditional sous vide fish consists of an easy, two-phase cooking process:
- Sigillatura the fish in a plastic bag and cottura alla temperatura finale desiderata in un bagno d'acqua a temperatura controllata.
- The temperature of the sous vide bath during the initial cooking phase is what determines the final texture of the fish.
- Browning the fish to develop color, flavor, and textural contrast if desired.
If you’d prefer to introduce new sous vide techniques into your arsenal, you can also use the Anova Precision™ Oven to prepare sous vide white fish. Because of the way we’ve designed the temperature sensors and humidity control, the oven will precisely maintain the cooking temperature you set.
You can choose to cook your fish low and slow in the Precision™ Oven just as you would with a Precision® Cooker, or you can use the oven’s food probe to tell you exactly when the core of your fish has hit your desired temp.
Just like traditional sous vide, using Sous Vide Mode in the Anova Precision™ Oven typically is a two-stage cooking process: First, bring the fish to your desired internal temperature, then brown it on the stove or serve it as-is.
The fresher the better! In general we like to shop for large pieces of fish and then portion the fillets at home. It’ll give you much more control over the finished product. You can cook fish sous vide skin on or skin off. It can be challenging to sear the skin of fish cooked using traditional sous vide methods, so you’re often better off removing it after cooking if you cook it in a water bath.
You don’t need a vacuum sealer for sous vide white fish, and in fact we wouldn’t recommend using one. The powerful suction of a vacuum sealer can put pressure on the soft fish flesh, leaving it dented and misshapen. Because of its short cooking time and low temperature, a regular zipper-lock bag will work fine. To seal a zipper lock bag, use the water displacement method. It’s fast, efficient, and custom-made for situations like this.
To do it, simply place your food in a plastic bag and seal the bag almost all the way, leaving about an inch open. Slowly lower the bag into a tub of water, holding the opened end above the water level. As the bag lowers, the water pressure should force air out of the bag. Just before it completely submerges, seal the bag completely and you’re ready to cook.
Temperatura e tempistica
Depending on the fish you choose to cook, you may want to adjust the doneness temperature. For example, for halibut, we like temperatures between 120°F (49°C) and 130°F (54°C). For flakier white fish, such as cod, we prefer a narrower range of doneness, between 120°F (49°C) and 125°F (52°C).
For timing, there’s no need to leave fish in a water bath for longer than it takes to just cook through — a half hour to 45 minutes is plenty for one-inch fillets, and 45 minutes to an hour for fillets up to two inches thick.
Sous Vide tradizionale
| Fish Type | Temperatura del forno o del bagno d'acqua | Temperatura della sonda | Tempo | Struttura |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flaky White Fish | 120°F (49°C) | 120°F (49°C) | 30 minutes to 1 hour | Juicy and tender, just starting to flake |
| Firm White Fish | 120°F (49°C) | 120°F (49°C) | 30 minutes to 1 hour | Just starting to flake, tender, sashimi-like layers |
| Flaky White Fish | 125°F (52°C) | 125°F (52°C) | 30 minutes to 1 hour | Very moist, tender, and flaky |
| Firm White Fish | 130°F (54°C) | 130°F (54°C) | 30 minutes to 1 hour | Very moist, tender, and flaky |
Sous Vide White Fish, Step by Step
Passo 1
Season the fish on all sides generously with salt and pepper.
Passo 2
If bagging, place the fish portions in a single layer inside one or more zipper-lock bags. Add a couple teaspoons of olive oil or butter per fillet to each bag along with some gentle aromatics like thinly sliced garlic and/or thyme sprigs. Do not add large chunks of food that can damage the shape of the fish, or acidic ingredients that damage the texture. Once bagged, close the bag and let the fish rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight for the salt to firm up the flesh.
If cooking without a bag in the Anova Precision™ Oven, place the seasoned fish on a rimmed sheet pan, cover, and refrigerate as written above.
Passo 3
Attach a Precision® Cooker to a water bath and heat to your desired final doneness temperature or preheat the Precision™ Oven to your desired temperature.
Passo 4
If cooking using traditional sous vide methods, remove all the air from the bag using the water displacement method, then add the fish to the preheated water bath.
Passo 5
If cooking in the Anova Precision™ Oven, place the fish on a sheet pan. Insert the probe if desired. Place in the oven.
Passo 6
Cook according to the time and temp for your desired level of doneness.
Fasi di finitura
Carefully remove the fish from the bag or the sheet pan using your hands or a fish spatula. Place it on a double layer of paper towels, then use another paper towel to gently blot the surface dry. Discard any aromatics at this point. The fish can be served as-is or finished on the stove.
Passo 1
Heat a tablespoon of butter in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until foaming subsides.
Passo 2
Carefully add the fish presentation-side down and cook without moving lightly browned, 30 to 45 seconds. Add aromatics such as thyme, garlic, and shallots, and continue to cook, tilting the pan and basting the halibut with the hot butter, until the first side is well browned, about 1 ½ minutes total.
Passo 3
Flip and let the second side brown for 15 to 30 seconds.
Passo 4
Transfer the fish to a paper towel to blot off excess oil. Serve.
A Closer Look at Seasoning Sous Vide Fish
Some recipes for sous vide fish recommend soaking it in a salt water brine before cooking in order to season it more deeply and to give it a denser, firmer texture. We tried cooking a few pieces of fish side by side:
- Plain
- Soaked in a liquid salt and sugar brine
- Soaked in a plain salt brine
- Rubbed (dry-brined) with salt and sugar
- Rubbed (dry-brined) with salt alone
For the brined and dry-brined fish, we tested various brining lengths ranging from 15 minutes up to overnight. We cooked each sample of halibut sous vide at two different temperatures — 120°F and 130°F — for 45 minutes and then tasted it.
The difference is noticeable, with both the fish that was water-brined and dry-brined coming out with a firmer, better seasoned, and overall more pleasant flesh. We found the sugar in the brine to be distracting, though if you like the added sweetness, there’s no harm in it. We prefer dry-brining to water-brining for the sake of convenience: Aall you have to do is salt your fish, seal it in a bag, then let it rest before cooking. Half an hour seems to be the magic number where you get a strong brining effect but still keep things moving along in time for dinner.
When cooking things like steak or chicken, we typically don’t add extra fat to the bag — all it does is dilute flavor by removing fat-soluble flavor compounds. With fish, on the other hand, we do.
Not only does flaky fish flesh absorb flavor better than land animal meat, but the fat also helps distribute the flavor of any aromatics added to the bag. If you’re cooking more than one piece in a single bag, fat will also help keep the individual fillets from sticking together. Butter and flavorful oils, like olive oil, work equally well.
A Closer Look at Finishing Sous Vide Fish
Sous vide white fish is wonderful seared in browned butter with aromatics or served as-is straight from the water bath (or oven). If you want to add a crunchy topping, you can also make flavored bread crumbs to add to the top of the fish.
When searing white fish, we sear with the presentation-side down (that is, the best-looking side). Some cooks like to use clarified butter or simply oil, which will give you a more delicate golden-brown color, but just as when searing beef steaks, we enjoy the flavor that a few burnt milk protein solids can lend to a well-seared piece of meaty fish.
Start by searing in butter, then add some aromatics like thyme, shallots, or garlic and baste the fish with the flavored butter, flipping it over just for a few moments to give the second side a touch of color without the risk of toughening it up.
How to Make Bread Crumbs
Crisp, buttery bread crumbs make a delicious and easy topping for sous vide fish. Typically for fish broiled with bread crumbs, you’d top raw fish with raw bread crumbs in a gratin dish and broil it so that the bread crumbs end up crisp just as the fish finishes cooking. With sous vide fish, it’s already cooked, which means that you need to start with pre-crisped bread crumbs.
To make them, start by pulverizing sandwich bread in a food processor. Mix the resulting moist crumbs with melted butter, then broil them until lightly browned. Use the toasted bread crumbs to top the sous vide fish when you pull it out of the bag.