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Sous Vide Cod

by Matt Kennard

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The fish that falls apart most easily, made reliable. Brine firms it, 133F sets it into large clean flakes, and butter and garlic finish it.

Serves
4
Total
50 min
Sous vide Seafood
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Cod is delicate to the point of being annoying. It flakes apart when you move it, it goes from perfect to chalky in under a minute, and a thick loin is cooked on the outside before it's warm in the middle.

The brine solves the first problem and the water bath solves the rest.

This is the fish where the ten-minute brine matters most. Cod holds a lot of water and the salt firms the proteins enough that the fillet stays in one piece.

The finish

Skin off, dried hard, thirty seconds in a hot pan on the presentation side. Then the heat down, butter and smashed garlic in, and baste for another thirty, tilting the pan and spooning it over.

Lemon or lime at the end, to taste.

Cod is the one where this takes some nerve, because it's fragile and the pan is where it's most likely to come apart. Use a fish spatula, move it once, and accept that a little might stick. The basted surface is worth it.

If it's not right

  • Falls apart: didn't brine, or you handled it with tongs.
  • Chalky: too hot. 140°F is past where cod is good.
  • Watery on the plate: some liquid in the bag is normal. Pour it off or spoon it over, your call.
  • Bland: the brine seasons it, so if it's flat, the brine was too short or too weak.

Ingredients

4

Method

  1. **Brine** 10 to 15 minutes in the dissolved salt and sugar.

  2. **Rinse and dry.**

  3. **Bath to 133°F.** Cod wants more than salmon, and I run a few degrees above the usual 130 because I like it slightly more set. Below 125 it reads as underdone rather than silky.

  4. **Bag** with a knob of butter and the lemon zest.

  5. **30 to 40 minutes** for a thick loin, less for thinner fillets.

  6. **Out of the bag carefully.** It is fragile even done well. A fish spatula, or lift it on the bag itself.

  7. **Finish in the pan,** below. Then flaky salt and lemon or lime.

Goes with

From the journal

  • Make the Fish — Fish is one of the things people reserve for restaurants, and it shouldn't be. It's fresher at home, it's faster than almost anything else, and the fishmonger is the best part.

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