Sous Vide Halibut
Expensive, lean, and unforgiving in a pan. 132F gives you the firm meaty texture halibut is bought for, without the dryness that usually comes with it.
- Serves
- 4
- Total
- 55 min
Halibut costs more than it should and punishes you for it. It's very lean, so there's no fat to buy you time, and a minute too long turns something firm and sweet into something dry and cottony.
It's also the fish most worth getting right, because done properly it has a texture nothing else has: dense, meaty, in big clean flakes.
If it's not right
- Dry: too hot, almost always. Drop five degrees.
- Soft and wet: too cool for halibut, which wants to be firmer than salmon.
- Falls apart: overcooked, or handled roughly out of the bag.
- Bland: lean fish needs salt and acid more than oily fish does. Both, at the end.
Ingredients
Method
-
**Brine** 10 to 15 minutes. Rinse and dry.
-
**Bath to 132°F.** Firm and still moist, and a few degrees above the 128 most recipes give, because I like it slightly more set. 128 if you want it softer.
-
**Bag** with butter and thyme.
-
**35 to 45 minutes.**
-
**Out, dry hard,** and sear 30 to 45 seconds on the presentation side in a very hot pan.
-
**Heat down, butter and smashed garlic in,** and baste for thirty to forty seconds, spooning it over.
-
Lemon or lime, to taste, and flaky salt.
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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