Sous Vide, or Under Vacuum, is a cooking method where the ingredients, placed in a vacuum condition (usually vacuum sealed plastic bags or ziplocks), is cooked under water or in a steam environment. The cooking period is usually much longer and temperature much lower than usual. The goal is to achieve an even-cook throughout without letting flavours and moisture escape.  For many proteins, they are also finished on fire to add additional flavour and texture through camarelization.

Many people struggle with getting it right through traditional cooking methods for proteins like steak and fish. Of course by practicing, one can definitely get it right consistently. However, Sous Vide offers not just that assurance, but another layer of complexity not found in traditional methods. As technology advances, Sous Vide is no longer out of reach for us home cooks. I obtained this nice little very portable Sous Vide cooker several years ago and have been experimenting on different ingredients ever since. This cooker basically circulates water and maintain it at a fixed temperature, which is controllable using its digital dial or a smartphone app. Now, with easy to obtain ingredients, I present to you a simple but sophisticated seeming (pretentious even) recipe I thought up on the fly - because it is so easy - The Sous Vide Salmon on Cauliflower Purée with Coconut Herb Fried Rice and of course, a fine wine pairing. Let’s start with the wine or you may scroll down further for the recipe.

 Wine Pairing

A fine dining meal is not complete without a matching wine pairing to elevate the experience even more. I chose the Bellingham’s The Bernard Series Old Vine Chenin Blanc from Coastal Region, South Africa. Unlike much of Chenin Blanc from Loire Valley, France, which is fruity and lively, Aside from the historical Constantian dessert wine, South African Chenin Blanc is known to have a distinctive style that has oak influence through both barrel fermentation and maturation.  This bottle I picked combines both styles in a balanced delicious manner. Behind the lively tropical fruit and refreshing acidity, there is this sweet creamy vanilla oak spice that adds another level of appreciation. The elements can be further elevated by the acidic and savoury taste from the salmon dish and the fragrant herb rice. Creamy vanilla from the wine also mixes so well with the cauliflower purée. Bringing this meal together so well!

Of course, there are many other wine pairing choices that can pair so well with this dish. For a savoury seafood, acidity is quite important to balance and elevate the whole meal. A lively fruity element from the wine can also have a desirable effect with the saltiness from the food. I am picking white wines here for pairing suggestions, but go out to experiment with some higher acidity lower tannins reds like Pinot Noir, Gamay, and Barbera.

1. Chardonnay

Arguably the noblest of white grapes, in all kinds of different styles including the king of sparkling wines - Champagne.  This versatile grape also comes in a wide range of prices - from as little as $8 to a whopping $2000 a bottle! The key here is to look for refreshing fruit and balancing buttery oak. Those from Burgundy, France is definitely solid choices. For a lower price point, definitely look into regions such as Chablis - north of Burgundy. Chablis packs a higher acidity due to the northern location. Many of is Premier Crus and Grand Crus will also have oak influence for some creamy spicy richness. Popular creamy buttery style made world famous from California, US have also shown more restrain in recent years with clean fruity with just a touch of oak. With so many choices out there, if you are unsure, Champagne or other similarly made sparkling wines are always great choices.

2. Sauvignon Blanc

High acidity lively - almost pungent fruit. To not overpowering some nuances from the dish, pick the more restrained style here such as Sancerre or oak influenced ones from either Bordeaux, France or California, US (where some are called Fumé Blanc made popular by the fabled Robert Mondavi)

3. Pinot Gris

Oily Alsatian style Pinot Gris, much different from the popular, more neutral in comparison, style of Pinot Grigio made popular from northeastern Italy. This richer, fuller bodied style of Pinot Gris delivers the fruity acidity with its signature honeycomb spice from some skin contact. Alsace, France also makes their Pinot Gris with detectable residual sugar - usually off-dry to medium-dry. For dryer style, why not try the Pinot Gris from Okanagan Valley, BC or Portland, Oregon.

4. Riesling

Crowd-pleaser made popular by its off-dry styles in the $10 - $20 range - almost becomes a synonym to this actually very high end noble grape variety. However, that and the hard to pronounce names of many high quality German Rieslings have been a roadblock for this beauty to be known as a symbol of sophistication.  Riesling is very food friendly, in my experiments, it pairs so well with a large variety of different dishes time and time again - even hearty steaks! Go beyond the bottle with a fish on the label and explore!  German, Alsace, Australia, Austria, Washington, and Okanagan, the list goes on!

There are many other whites to try pairing with seafood such as Viognier, Gruner Veltliner, Cortese, Muscadet.. go out and try as many as possible!  I am going to move on.

The Recipe 

Preparation

Sous Vide Salmon

1. Dry the salmon and preheat the Sous Vide cooker to 50 Celsius
2. Place the salmon in plastic bag
3. Fill the bag with olive oil and herbs
4. Vaccum seal the bags
5. Submerge the bags and set cooking time to 20 minutes

I got the wild sockeye salmon from Costco - I prefer them over the farmed ones for specific flavour profile I am looking for.  Divide the salmon into even portions - you can decide how full you want to get from this meal.  Pat the filets dry with paper towel then season both sides of each filet with enough salt. Place a filet in a bag, fill it with olive oil and herb you like. I prefer basil, parsley, rosemary, and thymes. You can decide what you want to add. Just don’t go too crazy. They are meant to elevate, not to overpower. After you are happy with the seasoning, vacuum seal each bags if you have a vacuum sealer, otherwise use ziplock bags. There are two methods to vacuum seal a ziplock bag. 1. Dip the bag slowly into water, the air will be forced out of the bag hence sealing the main ingredients. 2. Close the ziplock bag only leaving a small opening for a straw. draw out the air inside the bag through the straw then close it up. Use any large pot, fill it with water and preheat the Sous Vide cooker to 50 Celsius. Place each bags into the pot, make sure they are completely submerged. Set cooking time to 20 minutes. Now use this time to cook the side dishes.

Once the Sous Vide cooking is completed. Preheat the frying pan in high heat with oil. Make sure it is sizzling hot before putting the salmon on.  You can choose to either leaving the skin on or peeling it off. If you have it on, fry that side first to make it crispy.  Since the salmon is already cooked throughout in Sous Vide, you are just adding another layer of complexity through finishing on fire. Leave at most 1.5 minutes of frying on each side. Set it aside and let it rest.  You can drizzle some olive oil from the plastic bag to maintain moisture.

Cauliflower Purée

1. Loosely chop up the cauliflower
2. Place in sauce pan with butter and fill with water to about 1/3 of the way.
3. Steam in high heat with lid on.
4. Periodically check cooking and water level to prevent any browning. Season with salt to taste.
5. Lower heat to simmer to prevent water from drying completely.
6. Add lemon juice and purée in blender until completely smooth.
7. Adjust salt and lemon juice to taste.

Loosely chop up the cauliflower. Depending on how much you want per dish. Usually a quarter head is enough for two. Cut up enough butter and set aside. The more butter the creamier the purée gets. Just don’t go crazy.  To add the much needed acidity to seafood dishes, fully squeeze out enough lemon juice and set it aside. You can also use those bottled lemon juice. This will give the creamy purée a nice lift.

Place the cauliflower into a sauce pan, add enough water to submerge to about 1/3 of the way. Add the butter and start seaming under lid at high heat.  Make sure to keep checking the water level so it does not get overlooked. The goal is to make the water almost all gone without browning the cauliflower so use your own judgement when to bring the heat down to a simmer. Season with salt at half way point.

Load into blender and purée until it becomes shiny silky smooth. Give it a taste and adjust the salt and lemon juice level to taste.  Set it aside for the artistic moment that is plating. 

Coconut Herb Fried Rice 

1. Add coconut oil to pan at medium heat.
2. Sauté chopped onion and garlic to slightly brown.
3. Add in the herb and rice. Mix well.
4. Beat one large egg and add into the pan.
5. Stir fry until well mixed. Season to taste with salt and set aside.

This is the part where you can be flexible. Fried rice is very versatile. It is so simple and tastes great with a wide range of ingredients. You can experiment to create your own signature. However, the side dish here is coconut herb, so be sure not to use any ingredient that will overpower the fragrance we are aiming for in this recipe. Of course you will need rice for this fragrant side dish. Make enough to fill one ramekin per dish. I used the pre-made mix of brown and jasmine rice. Fried rice is better texture wise when the rice has been in the fridge overnight so it does not have the excess moisture. You are at home, make more if you want for the next meal, or the meals after.

Heat the coconut oil in frying pan at medium heat. Add in chopped onion and garlic to sauté until slightly brown. Add the rice and one beaten large egg. Stir fry until the egg is well mixed in. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Plating 

After you have all the elements of the dish ready to go, this is  the part that will make your dish stands out and very instagramable. Of course you can dump everything to the plate and consume them like a whale doing a driveby through a school of fish. But that’s not what we are looking for is it? One of the big enjoyment in appreciating home cooked meal is the feeling of accomplishment like indulging an edible art form. Besides, enjoying the whole process is just as much fun as enjoying the meal. Especially when the meal is completed with a fine wine pairing.

Plating is definitely something I would love to get much better at, but you gotta start somewhere.  Here is my rather rudimentary way to make a presentable dish.

Start decorating the canvas with cauliflower purée, there are many different patterns you can experiment with - just make sure there is enough on the plate to help balancing the dish. Gently plate the salmon on top of the purée. Add the rice either in loose form or packed using a ramekin. Add the capers and dijon mustard to the plate in anyway you like. Pour a glass of your wine of choice from the suggestions above and enjoy!