Poaching fish can be a simple but tasty weeknight meal. For poaching fish, I prefer a classic French court bouillon. With a pressure cooker, you can have a court bouillon made in less than a half hour. Fish filets take just a few minutes to poach. A court bouillon is a essentially a broth made from water, wine, vegetables and aromatics. Here is my court bouillon.
Ingredients
1 small onion, quartered
2 carrots, quartered
2 celery stalks, quartered
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small bunch of parsley
1 small bunch of dill
1 small bunch of thyme
6 cups water
1 cup white wine
1 tbsp peppercorns
3 bay leaves
Juice of 1 lemon
In a pressure cooker over medium heat, add the onion, carrot and celery. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the vegetables become fragrant. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the bunches of herbs and cook for 2-3 minutes until they become fragrant. Add the wine, ester, peppercorns, bay leaves, and lemon juice. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, place the lid on the pressure cooker and lick it’ll lock it (I set to high pressure). Turn the heat to high, if desired, and let the pressure build up. Once pressure has built up and the pressure cooker starts “whistling,” turn the heat to low and allow to cook for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, remove the pressure cooker from the heat and release the pressure. Once it unlocks, remove the lid and strain the broth through a strainer into a bowl, removing all vegetables, herbs, and spices. The court bouillon is now ready to use.
I recommend poaching white fish (though salmon or chicken can be poached as well). To poach a white fish filet, salt and pepper both sides of each filet. Being enough broth to cover the fish back to a simmer in a pan or pot. Submerge the fish and cook for approximately 6-7 minutes, until fish has cooked through, and then remove the fish from pan.
If you wish to serve the fish in the broth, add 1-2 teaspoons of salt to the broth, stir, and allow broth to simmer for a minute or two. Then serve the fish in the salted broth. In the above photo I served poached swai in broth with roasted potatoes and turnip greens.