Go to the Recipe: Black Cod With Soy, Garlic, and Lime
The picture in step 1 is depicting dry-brining, but the the text describes a wet brine?
I know, i know, i am nitpicking, but You guys are always razor sharp, so this caught my eye.
I love this fish update, thanks!
Could frozen black cod be used instead of fresh?
I recommend thawing the frozen cod before cooking but other then that, it will work great.
Hi can I poach the salmon instead? I don the proper equipment for sous vide yet.
I followed the recipe precisely. The result was far to salty for me. So how do I adjust? I could cut the salt in the brine by a third and up the sugar by the same amount. Or I could compromise on flavor and use low sodium soy. Or I could replace some of the soy with something else (rice wine perhaps). Are any of those likely to produce a good result?
I don't think low sodium soy compromises on flavor. It just makes less salty right?
I think your problem was the soy sauce. Try to reduce its salty flavour mixing it with still water (50% soy 50% water). This is my way when I make sushi.
Need my Joule for these recipes !
Try using a soysouce without so much salt!
Will this recipe work for previously frozen Halibut?
We love Asian flavors and in fact lived in SE Asia for years. What other fish would you suggest for this prep?
Hi Bruce! Any white fish would be perfect here!
Hi Austin! Absolutely!
Hi Jovan! Check out our Stovetop Sous Vide method!
This looks like a great recipe. Please pardon my Asperger's, but your pics do not support your recipe. Where the recipe says to add the fish to brine, you show somebody liberally salting the fish. And where you say to cut the fish into thirds, you show four pieces of fish. I love ChefSteps for the precision and attention to detail, these inconsistencies trip my brain up.
I made this using monkfish, expensive but absolutely stunning
That's an odd approach. I understood the bit perfectly. I'm not sure any of the images refuted the central point: the recipe. You can salt fish before you brine it and you can cut fish in 3 4 or however many pieces you like. They say in the bit they slice their fish in 3 pieces but they do not say the 4 in the image are from the same fillet.
Food photography is done by a photographer. A cook wrote the bit. The photog arranges food for a good image whilst the cook makes it good to eat. Given this isn't rocket surgery and the expected audience for ChefSteps would be intelligent doer type people I think your nit picking is a bit out of place.
Now I'm confused - when should I portion the fish?
Could I use a whole 1 to 1 1/2 pound fish (or smaller - think smelt or minnow)? If so, how much shorter/longer would marinating and cooking time be adjusted? My Philippine market sells many smaller fish and in Asian style, I prefer whole fish presentations when full filleting results in tiny "bits" of fish on the smaller fish. Tiny little bits also tend to fall apart and do not make the "wow" aspect when presenting the dish. Thanks!
what's this red "jam" in the pictures, in the white bowl?
No idea, but I bet it's gochujang
The sauce is quite salty. I am not sure if your published measurement is correct or not but it needs to be adjusted accordingly.
My black cod filets are much thinner than the ones in the picture. Do I need to adjust cooking time?
I should have read the comments below... WAY too salty. An unfortunate waste of expensive fish. Other than that, the flavours were okay, but too much soy flavour (never mind the salt) when compared to the other flavours.
I tried this with cod. Worked like a charm. We buy our soy sauce at an Asian store; so we are careful about salt. We definitely want to try it with the black cod. The cucumber slices are genius
Must have been the execution, but I was overwhelmed by sodium. (San-J Tamari was the soy sauce we used; we usually use Kikkoman low sodium). It seems to need either rice vinegar or more lime to cut the salinity. Texture of the fish was excellent.
Is that lime juice measurement really correct? 1/30th the amount of soy? seems like the lime wouldn't even be noticeable when diluted that much.
I tried this dish tonight. I think it the sodium would be just right if I paired the fish with plain rice and sliced cucumber to balance the saltiness. Or simply serve this dish as an appetizer with one bite of rice, one slice of fish and one slice of cucumber. However, I only prepared the fish part...I think next time I'll shorten the brining time to 10 mins or so and cut down the soy sauce by 1/3. Overall, it's a fantastic dish with bold flavor and super tender texture.
@Chefsteps do you ever revisit and revise your recipes? I see these comments and think "I don't want to make this if 90% of the reviews say it's too salty" Where are your responses or edits?
Everyone seems to say too salty. All the other recipes involving brining say to rinse and pat dry after the brine. Perhaps the rinse step was left out?
A pleasant and impressive looking dish that highlights the fish. I used wild Atlantic cod instead of black cod, which I liquid brined, then rinsed in ice cold water and patted dry before sous vide in a vacuum sealed bag (low 30 vacuum setting on my VP116S). Be careful removing it from the SV bag, since it is very delicate at this temperature (drain the sauce, then cut the bag end off with scissors and slide the fish out onto a plate). I usually cut before sous vide, but I supposed the cut sides without sauce might look pretty on a plate.
Since everyone has been complaining about the salt level (a consistent problem with CS recipes!), I used Wegmans low sodium soy sauce (which is even lower salt than low sodium Kikkoman), and half the recommended amount of Red Boat fish sauce (the best brand). I also added some ginger to the sauce. Worked out perfectly as far as salt.
Instead of raw cucumbers, I did quick pickle in a vacuum chamber (CS recipe) with English cucumbers and red chilis to add a bit of color, heat and vinegar flavor. And as CS pictured, added raw scallions, raw shallots, nori and sesame seeds for garnish.
Agree. Way too salty. Had a friend over for dinner and this result was embarassing.
After tasting the results, I agree with most comments. It is too salty. In my opinion, the culprits are the brine and the fish sauce. I'd try not to brine the fish since you cook it in a very salty sauce. Using low sodium soy sauce won't make much difference but using less fish sauce (pure sodium there) will give better results (See BostonBestEats comment). I also added the zest of half a lime since the juice (1g) won't flavour much.
Should have read the reviews before I made this. My fish came out too salty as well. Next time, I'll just cook the fish simply with salt/pepper and lemon.
I halved the salt and sugar in brine. Rinsed and pat dry. It was good and not too salty.
This recipe disappeared
Wow @Richard Richardsen what feels out of place is your tone with @Jess .
The seasoning was fine for me. What didn’t work was the cook time/temperature. I used two fillets of black cod and cooked at 113 for 45 minutes (vs. 30 for one fillet). The fish came out almost raw, and I had to recook in a steam oven. 113 seems to be a very low temp for a firm fish with a high fat content. Overall disappointed.
Hello Anthony, In reference to the Joule app, if you want a more firm a meaty texture then 131°f would be your ideal cooking temperature.
I just made this and I was a bit nervous about all of the "too salty" comments. I decided to chance it and stuck to the original recipe and it was not too salty for me. It paired perfectly with white rice, scallions, and sliced green onion. I even poured some of the reserve sauce over the top.
I should note the the thickness of my cut is similar to the one listed in the recipe. If you have a thinner cut it may be too salty. I did store mine with the sauce overnight before cooking, no issues.
I've cooked Chilean sea bass, sablefish and ling cod sous vide. Each was cooked to perfection, but each tended to fall apart, especially when I was searing them. Any tips for holding them together?
