How to poach fish like Eric Ripert
The cover image on Eric Ripert’s latest cookbook, “Seafood Simple,” is about as simple as can be. A piece of rosy salmon sits on a white plate on a white surface. The chef’s hands hover on either side: one holding a small dish of salt, the other sprinkling a delicate shower of crystals on the fillet.
Rather than featuring one of the gorgeous photos of finished dishes — and there are many beautiful ones from which to choose — the picture comes from the “how to season” section of the book.
Get the recipe: Halibut With an Herb Vinaigrette
That’s because Ripert, co-owner and chef at the storied Le Bernardin restaurant in New York City, wants this cookbook — his eighth — to take you on a journey and “convert you into a competent and confident seafood cook.” To that end, he has written a concise, thoughtful guide to selecting seafood, determining whether it is fresh and storing it safely. Step-by-step photos demonstrate how to fillet and skin fish, how to shuck oysters and clams, clean shrimp and split lobster.
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End of carouselRipert then takes home cooks by the hand and guides them through nine major techniques applied to 85 recipes. The goal: “to take seafood from daunting to rewarding.”
“We broke down the book into chapters with techniques so people can rely on those techniques, and if they follow them, then it is almost idiot proof,” he said in a telephone interview. The techniques cover raw (cured and marinated); steamed; poached; fried; baked; sauteed; broiled; grilled and preserved.
His last book, “Vegetable Simple,” also shot by portrait photographer by Nigel Parry, encouraged cooks to elevate plants to the main component of the meal. His goal was for readers to flip through the book and find inspiration.
“Here it’s more, ‘I’m going to teach you something,’” he said. “You’re going to learn how to cook seafood.”
If someone were to cook their way through the book, Ripert said, “They’re going to be very confident and feel that they have progressed tremendously in their cooking.”
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Despite the book’s title, Ripert admits that “cooking seafood, in truth, is not always that simple.” Two keys to success are securing the highest-quality seafood possible, which can be challenging depending on your budget and your proximity to water, and preparing it simply and carefully.
“All seafood is not equal,” he said. “If you buy mediocre products, the outcome, even if you are a genius, is going to be a mediocre result. Cooking for me starts with shopping, and then you have to know how to handle it.”
Among his tips:
- Find a fishmonger you can trust and build a relationship with that person.
- Buy fresh seafood the same day that you plan to prepare it.
- Use your eyes and nose to see whether it is fresh. Pass on any fish that has an odor: “I cannot overstate how important the power of smell is to differentiate between seafood that’s fresh and seafood that is past its prime.”
When people tell him they don’t cook fish because of the smell, he insists that is because the seafood is not fresh. “At Le Bernardin, we process a ton of fish, and [the restaurant] doesn’t smell like fish,” he said.
What if fresh seafood is to too difficult or expensive to secure? “It’s better to buy good frozen fish than bad fresh fish,” he said.
The next step is to select the proper cooking method. For example, poaching is not a good technique when cooking a meaty fish, such as tuna or swordfish, but it is great for flaky, lean, delicate fish, such as halibut.
“Tuna likes to be seared,” he said. “Halibut is delicate, so it’s beautiful poached. My favorite way to poach fish is in a thicker liquid, like a velouté.” The denser consistency enrobes the fish and traps its juices inside.
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Velouté is most commonly known as a sauce made with a butter roux and broth. Here, Ripert uses flour, water, lemon and salt to create thick liquid for gently poaching a fillet.
“Hopefully, people will be like, ‘I have flour in my house. I’m going to try and let’s see.’ It’s really simple. When you remove it, you have a beautiful, shiny piece of fish.” Then you spoon over a vinaigrette — Ripert’s recommended recipe or your favorite.
How does he tell when the fish is cooked? Ripert has a foolproof method: Use a metal skewer. The fish should feel firm and a skewer inserted into the thickest part of it for 5 seconds should feel warm when touched to the wrist.
The cookbook has a playful side, with flavors from around the world, and has nods to tradition, too, such as the Lobster Thermidor recipe.
Get the recipe: Barbecue Glazed Striped Bass
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One decidedly American recipe is a pantry-friendly, sweet, bold sauce that you can whisk together in minutes to make his Barbecue Glazed Striped Bass: A broiled fillet is finished with a brush of sauce and given a quick second pass under the broiler. He serves that with a lightly dressed slaw. (That recipe works with cod, grouper and swordfish, as well.)
“I just want people not to be intimidated, but to be inspired. I want people to say, ‘Duh, it was not so difficult.’”
Get the recipe: Halibut With an Herb Vinaigrette
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