Mediterranean Branzino Sous Vide in a Lemongrass Coconut Milk Bath
- January 17th, 2010
This is another one of those culture combining posts. Be warned if you don’t think a Seattle sparrow should fly to Greece by way of Thailand in order to rassle up dinner for the evening. You know it, I know it, I’m going sous vide crazy right now. It’s a culinary trend that’s sweeping the nation and I’ve tethered onto the broomstick nice and tight. I can’t help it though, it’s just so fun to throw something into the steamy water bath and forget about it for several hours, only to find that you’ve cooked it to perfection because of, not in spite of your absentmindedness. I’ve been playing with all manner of meats and vegetables, but not yet a whole fish. Until now.
Branzino is a sexy, spectacular fish; bass of the Mediterranean, it’s sometimes called. The first time I had it in Oporto, Portugal at Don Tonho restaurant, it was cooked fully immersed in rock salt in order to lock in the moisture and sweetness of the delicate flesh. It came out on a glamorous silver platter buried in a deep salt grave that the waiter excavated in order to extricate my dinner. He filleted it perfectly, leaving nary a bone, and ceremoniously removed the head with a felling flourish as a finale to his dramatic work. I always thought he was uber-talented in his tableside displays, but after last night I realize it’s actually quite easy to debone a branzino tableside. The bones slide away from the flesh as effortlessly as the last grain of sand that passes through an hourglass, it’s such a fluid gesture.
