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The Boiling of Fish in Salted Water
Created by Chef Juliette
Poisson Poché à l’Eau Salée teaches the gentlest lesson in the canon: salt the water exactly, bring whole fish up slowly, and never let the liquid keep boiling once the flesh begins to set.
Poisson Poché à l’Eau Salée (fish poached in salted water) teaches restraint. The liquid may reach the boil, but it must never go on boiling around the fish. That single distinction keeps the flesh full, pearly, and intact; agitation and excess heat tighten it until it shrinks, splits, and gives its juices to the pot.
The brigade method assumed a fish-kettle with its fitted drainer, a cooler edge of the range, Court-bouillon with Vinegar (No. 163) ready for salmon or trout, and a saucier attending the sauce sent separately. At home, use a wide covered vessel with a rack or insert, move it onto an unlit burner, and finish with a small beurre monté. The fish-kettle and napkin presentation are service scaffolding and can go. Exact salting, controlled heat, careful draining, and the separate sauce are the dish, so they stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
A whole fish begins in cold liquid so its outside doesn't seize before the centre warms. Thick slices enter boiling liquid so their cut surfaces set quickly, then the heat stops at once. Watch the first decisive bubble. That is the moment that governs everything afterward.
Ingredients
whole round white fish or thick fish steaks
Quantity
1 whole fish, 2½ to 3 lb (1.1 to 1.4 kg), or 4 steaks, 6 to 7 oz (170 to 200 g) each
scaled, gutted, washed inside, trimmed, and patted dry
cold water
Quantity
2 qt (1.9 L / about 1.9 kg), or enough to cover
Court-bouillon with Vinegar (optional)
Quantity
2 qt (1.9 L / about 1.9 kg) cold Court-bouillon with Vinegar (No. 163)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole round white fish or thick fish steaksscaled, gutted, washed inside, trimmed, and patted dry | 1 whole fish, 2½ to 3 lb (1.1 to 1.4 kg), or 4 steaks, 6 to 7 oz (170 to 200 g) each |
| cold water | 2 qt (1.9 L / about 1.9 kg), or enough to cover |
| Court-bouillon with Vinegar (optional) | 2 qt (1.9 L / about 1.9 kg) cold Court-bouillon with Vinegar (No. 163) |
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