Standards of Quality for Shallow-Poached Items

Appears in

Professional Cooking

By Wayne Gisslen

Published 2014

About

Items should be cooked just to doneness and be moist and tender.
The sauce should have a light, nappé texture and not be heavy or pasty. Its color should be attractive and appropriate to the ingredients. Sauces based on velouté are typically ivory in color.
The sauce should have a refreshing flavor from the acids in the poaching liquid (usually wine) and complement the flavor of the food item.

Basic Procedure for Shallow Poaching

Collect all equipment and food supplies. Select a pan just large enough to hold the fish portions in a single layer. This will enable you to use a minimum amount of poaching liquid. Also, use a pan with low, sloping sides. This makes it easier to remove fragile cooked fish from the pan.
Butter the bottom of the pan and sprinkle with chopped shallots or other aromatics.
Arrange the portions of fish or poultry in the pan in a single layer. Season them lightly.
Add enough cooking liquid (usually stock and white wine) to cover the items no more than about halfway. Use no more liquid than necessary so the flavor will be more concentrated and less reduction will be required later. (Also, keep in mind that the food items will release additional liquid as they cook.)
Cover the items with a piece of buttered parchment or other paper and cover the pan with a lid. The paper holds in the steam to cook the top of the fish. It is sometimes omitted if the pan has a tight lid, but it does help the fish cook more evenly. (Some chefs like to cut a vent hole in the center of the parchment, but this is not necessary, because the steam can easily vent from around the edges.)
Bring the liquid just to a simmer and finish poaching in the oven at moderate heat. Thin fish fillets will cook in just a few minutes. Poaching may be done on top of the range, but the oven provides more even, gentle heat from both top and bottom.
Carefully remove the cooked items from the pan to a clean, hot dish and ladle a little of the cooking liquid over them to help keep them moist. Cover and keep warm.
Reduce the cuisson over high heat to about one-fourth its volume. (If more liquid drains from the cooked items during this time, drain and add it to the cuisson while it is reducing.)
Finish the sauce as indicated in the recipe. For example, add fish velouté and heavy cream and bring to a boil. Adjust seasoning with salt, white pepper, and lemon juice.
Strain the sauce.
Evaluate the finished product (see above).
Arrange the fish or poultry on plates for service, coat with the sauce, and serve immediately.