Whole Trout Asian Style on Bed of Broccolini and Mushrooms

Sous Vide Details: Cook whole trout at 132F for 1 hours

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 1 whole fresh trout (2 lbs)
• 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced scallions 
• 1 cup thinly sliced ginger
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce (I use light soy sauce)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVO)
• 2 tablespoons sesame seed oil
• 2 tablespoons grape seed oil
• For the broccolini and mushroom bed:
• 2 bunches broccolini
• 2 cups shimeji mushrooms
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin oil
• 2 tablespoons your favorite vinegar (I used champagne vinegar)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

There's something about cooking a whole fish that is very satisfying as a chef.  Of course, maybe it's my Asian heritage that sparks that satisfaction since Asians typically cook fish whole.  It is a spiritual representation of live, the head being the beginning of life, the body the middle of life and the tail the end of life.  I used to cook whole fish using my handy fish steamer pot, a long and thin high walled pot with a perforated platform inside.  Nothing wrong with that method of cooking as it produced very tender and moist fish every time.  However, now that I'm a sous vide home chef, I decided to try whole sous vide trout!  First off to the market (Ranch 99) to get a nice fresh whole trout.  I found a nice 2 pounder that would fit inside a bag and inside my vacuum chamber, two key requirements.

Have the trout de-gutted and de-scaled.  In a bowl, mix the thinly sliced (Julienned) ginger, shredded carrots, julienned scallions and chopped cilantro and minced garlic.  Fill the trout cavity with the mixture.  Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the skin and place in a bag.  Add 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce and the sesame seed oil and seal.  Pre-heat the water bath to 132F and drop the trout in and cook for 1 hour.

To prepare the broccolini and mushroom bedding, bring water to a brisk boil in a large pot.  Blanch the broccolini for 2-3 minutes and then place them in an ice water bath to quickly cool them.  This helps retain their color.  Set aside for now.

When the fish has roughly 10 minutes to go, heat a large pan over medium heat and add the EVO and minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Add the mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes.  Add the chicken broth, soy sauce and vinegar and stir until hot.  Add the broccolini and cook for 3 - 5 minutes allowing the liquid to reduce.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Take what's left of the ginger-carrot-scallion-cilantro mixture and add the EVO and the other 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and mix well.  Place in microwave and heat for 30 - 45 seconds until hot.

When the trout is ready, heat an iron skillet on medium high heat with the EVO.  Take the trout out of the water bath and bag and place in the skillet and sear both sides of the trout, roughly 30 seconds per side.  Use a wide spatula to turn the fish and be careful as it is fully cooked and can potentially separate.

For plating, arrange the broccolini/mushroom mix on a large plate as a bed for the trout.  Add the trout on top in the center of the bedding.  Take the heated ginger-carrot-scallion-cilantro mixture and spread it on top of the trout.  Serve it up!

Top of Page

Read more »

Fennel Crusted Ahi Tuna Steak

Sous Vide Details: Cook Ahi Tuna at 110F for 15 minutes

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 2 Ahi Tuna steaks (fresh!)
• 1/3 cup fennel seeds (ground if you don't have a spice grinder)
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds (ground if you don't have a spice grinder)
• 1 tablespoon white peppercorns (again, ground if you don't have a spice grinder)
• 2 tablespoons grade seed oil
• Click here for the diced vegetable salad

I love sashimi tuna so I decided to make an Ahi tuna dinner the other night for variety.  It was also the first time doing Ahi Tuna sous vide.  I checked a couple sous vide websites and got various temperature suggestions, but the important information I gleaned was "not to over cook the tuna".  Taking that to heart, I decided to use a low temperature and time (even for sous vide standards!).  Also, it's important to use fresh Ahi tuna!

Start with creating the fennel crust. If you have a spice grinder, you can get the seed version of the spices.  If not, just get the ground versions.  Mix the fennel, coriander and white peppercorns together and spread in a pan.  Coat the Ahi Tuna steaks liberally on all sides and place in bag and seal.  Pre-heat water bath to 110F and drop in the tuna.  Cook for only 15 minutes.

When the tuna is done, heat the grade seed oil in a iron skillet on medium high heat.  Remove the Tuna from the water bath and bag and pat dry with a paper towel.  Place in skillet and sear for only 30 sec per side until you have a golden brown crust.  Remove from the skillet and carefully slice with a sharp knife into thick slices.

To plate, I made a diced vegetable salad with a vinaigrette dressing and placed the ahi tuna slices on top.  Serve it up!

Top of Page

Read more »

Wahoo (Ono) Steaks with Lemon Pepper Sauce

Sous Vide Details: Cook Wahoo (Ono)  at 132F for 45 min- 2 hours

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 2 Wahoo (Ono) fish steaks
• 1 tablespoon tarragon
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame seed oil
• 1 tablespoon sliced scallions
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon grape seed oil
• Lemon Pepper Sauce:
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon dill
• 1 tablespoon lemon pepper or white pepper
• Salt to taste
• Click here for Diced Vegetable Salad recipe

Was at Trader Joe's the other day and ran across Wahoo steaks.  Wahoo is a speedy white fish that has a firm texture, much like tuna.  In Hawaii, they call the fish Ono.  I typically don't buy flash frozen fish since I have a great fish monger in the Ranch 99 grocer in my neighborhood which provides a plethora of fresh whole and filleted fish every day.  But they don't have Wahoo and it looked really good so I bought some to sous vide.


I first put them in the refrigerator to thaw out.  Actually with sous vide, I didn't really have to do this step!  You can actually take frozen food and sous vide directly!  Just add 30 minutes to the cook time.  Sous vide's low temperature water bath de-thaws the food delicately and then cooks it right up.  I decided to thaw them since I wasn't going to eat them until the next day and I like "feeling" the freshness of the fish before cooking it.


So season the fish on both sides with the tarragon, salt and pepper, then drop them into a bag.  Add the soy sauce and sesame seed oil and seal.  Sealing a bag that has liquid in it can be a challenge.  A chamber vacuum sealer works best here since the liquid will have a tendency to be sucked out of a bar sealer.  You can optionally put the bag in the freezer for 30 minutes and the liquid will solidify enough to bar seal it.  Once sealed, pre-heat your water bath to 132F (this is for medium doneness) and drop it in and cook for at least 45 minutes and up to 2 hours.

You can make the diced vegetable salad from the link to the recipe above.

For the sauce, melt the butter in a sauce pan on medium heat.  Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, dill and pepper and stir to mix.  Salt to taste.

Once the Wahoo is done, heat a cast iron skillet with the grape seed oil on high heat until hot.  Remove the Wahoo from the water bath and bag and pat dry with a paper towel.  Place in the skillet and sear for 30 sec to 1 minute until you have a nice brown sear on one side.

To plate, mound some of the diced vegetable salad to the side of the plate.  Dribble some sauce on the other side of the plate in a nice design.  Lay the Wahoo (sear side up) on the sauce.  Add some scallions to the top of the Wahoo, serve and enjoy!

Top of Page

Read more »

Fillet of Trout on Bed of Kale with Shirataki Noodles, Artichoke and Mushroom Vinaigrette Sauce

Sous Vide Details: Cook trout at 135F for 30 minutes

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 1 whole trout (1-2 lbs)
• 1 teaspoon chopped dill
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Kale:
• 1 large bag of chopped Kale 
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• Shirataki Noodles:
• 1 - 7 oz package of Shirataki noodles (can be tofu, also can be thin or thick)
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/3 cup Japanese noodle base (can use Pad Tai noodle base too)
• Mushroom Vinaigrette Sauce:
• 2 cups chopped Shimeji mushrooms (or your favorite variety)
• 1/4 cup champagne vinegar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons chopped tarragon
• 2 large artichokes plus your favorite dipping sauce

Trout is a wonderfully light and healthy fish.  To butterfly fillet a trout takes some knife skills, but the end result is a beautiful presentation.  Butterfly fillet your trout. You can also fillet each side separately if you want.  Click here to see a youtube video on how to butterfly fillet a trout.

Since the Artichoke takes the longest, start with preparing it.  Heat a large pot of slightly salted water (2" in depth) until rapid boil.  Cut the tips of the Artichoke leaves off as well as 3/4 of the base stalk.  Drop the Artichokes in the boiling water and cook for 40 minutes.

Season the fillets with salt, pepper, dill and lemon juice and place in bag(s) and seal.  Pre-heat water bath to 135F and drop the fillets in.  Cook for 30 minutes.

While the trout is cooking, you can prepare the mushroom vinaigrette.  Heat the chicken stock on medium heat in a sauce pan.  Add the champagne vinegar and cook on simmer till reduced slightly, approximately 10 minutes.  Add the tarragon and whisk in the butter and flour.  Add the mushrooms and simmer for another 10 minutes until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Shirataki noodles are considered a "miracle" noodle because they essentially have zero carbs, zero calories and zero fat!  Other than that, they're the same as other Asian noodles!  Some people think they have a fishy smell, but that's just the water that they are packaged in.  If rinsed well, they take the flavor of whatever broth they are cooked in, making them very flexible.  To prepare the Shirataki noodles, first, thoroughly rinse them in cold water for at least 2 minutes to remove the fishy smell.  Press the water out.  Heat the chicken broth on medium heat and add the noodle base.  You can use any noodle base or flavor sauce you want at this point, for example oyster sauce would work too.  Add the noodles and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the cilantro.

To prepare the Kale, heat the chicken broth in a large wok or deep pan on high heat until boiling.  Add the chopped Kale and cover for 2 minutes.  Using tongs, rotate the Kale occasionally.  Add the sesame seed oil and mix.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add sesame seeds last.

To plate, once the trout fillets are done, heat a case iron skillet on high and add butter.  When butter is melted, gently remove the trout from the sealed bag and place skin side down in the skillet.  Sear the trout skin for 1 minute only.  Plate the Kale into a nice bed for the trout.  Place a clump of Shirataki noodles on the plate along with the Artichoke.  Please the trout fillet on top of the Kale bed.  Spoon some of the mushroom vinaigrette sauce on top of the fillets, add your favorite Artichoke dipping sauce (I like melted butter but my wife loves mayonnaise) and serve with a loving smile!

Top of Page

Read more »

Stacked Halibut, Beet Wafers and Edamame with Persian Cucumber Base

Sous Vide Details: Cook Halibut at 135F for 40 minutes

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 2 Small Halibut Steaks (or one cut in half)
• 2-4 Twigs of fresh dill
• 1 Large Red beet (should be at least 3 1/2" in diameter)
• 1 T Unsalted butter
• 1/4 C Water
• 1 1/2 C Shelled Edamame (you can get them at an asian market, use regular soybeans if necessary)
• 1 Persian Cucumber (you can use America or English too)
• Salt and Pepper
• Special tool: 3" mold ring

This is another variation of the sea food stack.  Here we stack Halibut on top of some red beet wafers and  edamame soybeans on a base of Persian cucumber coins.  Yummie!

First, cut your halibut steaks so that they will fit nicely on top of the stack.  You don't want them hanging over the edge!  Season them with the dill, salt and pepper on both sides and put them both in a single bag and seal.  Pre-heat the water bath to 135F and put the steaks in.  Cook for 40-45 minutes.

Slice the beets into thin (1/4") wafers.  Take the largest slices and using your ring mold, cut out 6 perfect circular beet wafers.  Melt the better into a sauce pan under medium heat.  Put beet wafers in, stir to coat and reduce heat to medium-low.  Cook on one side for 1 minute and then flip and cook on other side for 1 minute.  Add the water and simmer until reduced to a glaze (about 5 minutes).  Set aside.

Boil a pot of water and blanch the edamame beans for 3-4 minutes.  Drain and rinse under cold water.  Set aside.

Using a mandoline set at the thinnest setting, make cucumber coins.  Be very careful not to slice your fingers!  Lightly salt the coins.

When the steaks are done, remove them from the water bath and bag.

To assemble the plate, arrange the cucumber coins on the plate in a circular spiral, overlaying the previous one until you have built a 5" diameter base.  Build it as high as you like, but I wouldn't go more than 3-4 high.  Put the ring mold in the center and add a beet wafer.  Add some edamame and then another beet wafer.  Add another layer of edamame and then a final beet wafer.  Carefully remove the ring mold and carefully place the halibut steak on the top.  Present and enjoy!
Top of Page

Opah Steak with Cabbage Stir Fry and Miso, Honey, Lemon Sauce

Sous Vide Details: Cook Opah at 135F for 45 minutes

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 2 Opah steaks (also known as moonfish, sunfish and kingfish)
• 1 t Sesame seed oil
• 1 t Dillweed
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Cabbage Stir Fry:
• 2 Tablespoons Peanut oil
• 3 Cups Thinly sliced Napa Cabbage
• 1 Cup Shredded carrots
• 1 Cup thinly sliced sweet Maui onion
• 4 Scallions, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Miso, Honey and Lemon Sauce:
• 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 Tablespoons White Miso paste
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• 1 Tablespoon Heavy cream
• 1/4 Cup Water
• 2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro
• Pepper to taste

I ran across Opah the other day at costco.  I've never had Opah, but a quick scan of the internet revealed it is a wonderful meaty/firm whitefish so I thought I'd give it a try.  I didn't find any recipes on the web so I decided to cook it like Mahi Mahi.

Cut the steaks to a nice individual size portion.  Season with salt and pepper and dill.  Drizzle sesame seed oil on and seal them in individual bags.  Preheat the bath water to 135F and drop them in for 45 minutes.

For the miso, honey, lemon sauce, heat the butter in a sauce pan on medium until melted.  Added miso, lemon juice, honey and 1/4 cup of water and whisk to incorporate. Reduce heat to low simmer and cook for 5 minutes.  Add cream and cilantro and pepper to taste.

To make the cabbage stir fry, heat the peanut oil in a large pan/wok then add onions.  Cook till softened and then add carrots, again cooking until softened.  Finally add cabbage, cilantro, scallions and 1/4 cup of water and toss until cabbage just wilts, about 2 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

When the fish is done, take it out of the water bath and open the bag.

Now you are ready for plating.  Spoon some  of the cabbage stir fry on the plate.  Place the Opah steak on top of the stir fry.  Spoon the Miso sauce over the fish and stir fry. Add your favorite side dish and your ready to serve!

Top of Page

Read more »

Stacked Sea Bass, Brown Rice Pilaf, Seaweed with Cilantro Sauce

Sous Vide Details: Cook Sea Bass at 135F for 45 minutes

Ingredients, Serves 2:

• 2 Sea Bass steaks (smaller is better to fit nicely on the top of the stack)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1/2 T Dill to taste
• Rice Pilaf:
• 1 C Long grain brown rice
• 1/2 C Chopped parsley
• 1/2 C Thinly sliced (cross-wise) scallions (green section)
• 1 C Fresh seaweed salad (you can get this from your favorite Asian/Japanese market.  Get the ready to eat salad version, not the freeze-dried kind
• Cilantro sauce:
• 1 C Cilantro (don't use the stems)
• 1/4 C EVO
• 1/4 C Grapeseed oil
• 1 Chopped garlic clove
• 1/4 t Lemon zest
• 1 T Fresh lemon juice
• Special tool: 3" ring mold and tapper

By now, you can tell that I LOVE sea bass.  I know it's not too politically correct, but I don't get Chilean at least :-)  Since I got some new ring molds, I decided to create this "stacked" dish.  Stacking is a relatively new food plating style.  I decided in keeping with a "seafood" plate to integrate seaweed, a simple brown rice pilaf and a very nice "sea green" cilantro sauce.

For the sea bass, salt and pepper the steaks to taste.  Add the dill to each steak on both sides.  Put the steaks in separate bags and seal.  Drop them into the water bath set to 135F and cook for 45 minutes.

I used a rice cooker for the rice.  Put the rice in the rice cooker with 2 cups of water and start the rice cooker.  It should take roughly 30 minutes so you can start say 15 minutes after starting the fish.  Meanwhile, chop up the parsley and scallions and set aside.

To make the cilantro sauce, put the cilantro, garlic, lemon zest and lemon juice into a food processor.  Turn it on and while it's on, pour in the EVO and grapeseed oil.  Continue mixing until it emulsifies.

When the rice is done, mix it with the parsley and scallions.

When the fish is done, take it out of the bag.  You can optionally sear the skin if you want.  Pat it dry first.  A kitchen torch works best.  I actually like my skin o'natural, so I skipped this step.

Now you're now ready to plate.  Use a white plate and set your ring mold in the middle.  Spoon in enough seaweed to make roughly a 1/2" high stack.  Use a tapper to compress the seaweed into a nice compressed ring.  Don't smash it, just gently compress it.  Next, spoon in enough brown rice pilaf to make a 1" stack.  Again, use the tapper to compress the rice into a nice ring.  Clean up any ingredients that might have fallen outside of the rings and then gently remove the ring mold.  Gently set the fish on top of the stack.  Take a spoon and spoon the cilantro sauce over and around the stack.  Visually enjoy before eating!

Top of Page

Read more »

Halibut with Shimeji Mushrooms and Baby Bok Choi

Sous Vide Details: Cook fish at 132F for 35 minutes

Ingredients - Serves 2:

• 2 Halibut steaks
• 1 1/2 T chopped Cilantro
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Mushroom topping:
• 1 cup Shimeji mushrooms
• 1 T butter
• 1/2 cup fish stock
• 1 T minced shallots
• 1 T chopped parsley
• 1 T chopped dill
• Baby Bok Choi
• 8 heads of baby bok choi
• 1/2 cup EVO
• 1/3 cup oyster sauce (found at Chinese grocery stores)
• 1 t sesame seed oil

So I'm in love with the little shimeji "button" mushrooms and always look for opportunities to shower a meal with them.  Adding them to a nice Halibut steak is a light and healthy meal and when you add some baby bok choi, it makes for a great summer outdoor dinner.

The fish is simple.  Just salt and pepper the fish steaks to taste (remember, in sous vide, a little goes a long way!) and sprinkle a little chopped cilantro on them as well.  Pop them in a bag and seal.  Heat the sous vide water bath to 132F and pop the fish steaks in.  Cook for about 35 minutes.

While the fish steaks are cooking, you can prep the bok choi.  Cut the base ends off so that the outer leaves separate.  Cut the inner "core" in half length-wise.  Wash all the leaves.  Now prep the sauce.  Put the EVO, oyster sauce, and sesame seed oil in a sealable container and shake well until mixed.  Set aside.  When there is 15 minutes left on the fish, in a large wok or pan, heat roughly 1 cup of water on high heat until it comes to a full boil.  Add all the bok choi and cover.  Cook for about 4 minutes, rotating every couple minutes to get an even blanch.  You just want to see them start to soften.  Strain the water out of the wok (I just put the top on and hold it over the sink at an angle to let the water strain out.  Shake the sauce one more time to make sure it's mixed well and then add it to the wok and thoroughly coat the baby bok choi.  Heat on high for 30 seconds, mix well and then turn off the heat and put the lid on to keep the bok choi warm.

Add butter to a sauce pan and heat on medium heat.  Add the shallots and cook for 1 minute.  Add the mushrooms and stir until the mushrooms soften and take on a golden brown color, roughly 2 minutes.  Add the fish stock and herbs and reduce heat to simmer and simmer until it reduces by 1/2, roughly 10 minutes.

When the fish is done, pull it out and open the bags.  Plate the fish, top with the shimeji mushrooms and plate the baby Bok Choi in a nice mound next to your fish.  Dig in!

Top of Page

Read more »

Sea Bass on Edamame and Endives

Sous Vide Details: 135F for 30 minutes

Ingredients - Serves 2:

• 1 lb Sea Bass steak (or halibut or turbot)
• 2 cups shelled edamame
• 1 Endive
• 2 cups of shimeji mushrooms (found at Asian stores like Ranch 99)
• 2 T water or fish stock
• 3 T butter
• 2 T Parsley
• Salt and Pepper
• EVO

While it's not PC to love sea bass, I LOVE Sea Bass.  My fish store (ranch 99) has incredibly fresh fish every day, including sea bass steaks.  I picked some up the other day to sous vide.  Sous viding fish is very simple and actually doesn't take that much more time than most other techniques.  The textual difference however, is amazing.

First, you pat dry the fish steak and season both sides with salt and pepper.  Then pop it into a bag and cooking at 135F for 30 minutes.  That's it for the fish!

Bring a pot of water to boil with about 2 T of salt.  Add the edamame and cook for 10 minutes. Then strain the edamame into a bowl and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.  Season with a little salt and some EVO to your taste.

While the edamame are cooking heat a saucepan to medium heat, chop the shimeji mushrooms to separate them and add the shimeji mushrooms to the saucepan.  Add 1 1/2 T EVO and cook for 3-4 minutes just to get them soft and heated.  Then add 2 T water or fish stock and cook for another 3 minutes.  Then add the butter and reduce beat to simmer and stir to mix.

To plate, peel off some endive leaves (I used 4 per plate) and arrange them on a plate.  You can brush them with a little EVO as they might be a little pungent.  Add half of the Edamame to each plate.  Take out the sea bass and add half to each plate.  Top it with the shimeji mushrooms, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve! 

Top of Page

Read more »