I have been playing around with cooking salmon different ways and this is the best way that I have found to cook it. It gives the fish a lovely tender, gelatinous texture and even better, a consistent result each time. I have tried confit or poaching in oil and also in stock, and frying, but it does not give anywhere near the consistent results of this perfectly cooked fish.
I got a cheap and cheerful vacuum sealer off the web to try and it works just fine (so far). There are other larger models available, if you get serious, that you can get from your local homewares store.
Ingredients:
4 salmon fillets, skinned and pin boned
4 tablespoons Olive oil
2 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
12 sprigs Thyme
1 small bunch Basil
Zest of 1 lemon
Method:
Bring a large saucepan of water to 50 degrees Celsius and maintain the temperature. I used a thermometer and a heat diffuser between the heat element and the pan to keep the temperature low.
Divide the lemon zest, basil, garlic and thyme into 4 x vacuum bags. Lay one piece of salmon on the herbs in each bag. Pour one tablespoon of olive oil over each salmon and seal.
Add the sealed salmon bags to the 50 degrees water and leave for 16 minutes.
Remove fillets of salmon from each bag and discard the herb mixture.
Serve immediately with beans, peas and pancetta and you can spoon over some salmon roe or olive oil and baby cress to serve.
