My experiments with Home Sous Vide (pronounced suːˈviːd/) continues. I am simply intrigued by this cooking method. I have already blogged my first experience with Roast Ribeye Beef.

So, what do I think about the Sous Vide Magic (SVM) gadget? Bang for the bucks, it is one of the best kitchen gadgets I have had in recent times. For USD160, it opens up a new method of cooking, extending the multitasking capacity in my kitchen. I would never have imagined that the rice cooker area can be used for anything other than cooking rice. And not to mention, it has been put to egg service regularly for my household and for parties.



I made poached Salmon in Thai Red Curry recently for 20 pax in an Alpha Course. I poached the fillets in zip-lock bags, using the straw to suck out the air (very easy to do). I put it into the rice cooker and set the SVM at 50C for 4 minutes. I made the curry sauce. Opened the bags (you can leave the bags in the pot till you want to use them) and pour out the salmon juices into the curry. Lined up the fillets on a plate. Just before you serve, pour the heated curry into the plate. Serve.

It takes the stress out of the need to poach the fillets in the pan batch by batch, and to get each one right, saving "attention time" so that I can focus on the other dishes. And each fillet is perfectly and "predictably" poached: the rareness or "done-ness" follows your set temp. 

Poached Salmon in Thai Red Curry - taken off an on-going dining table before the plate was cleaned up!

The SV way will not work for many local dishes but it is not difficult to imagine where it could help. Tough braising cuts like braised pork knuckles should do well with SV. I am also working at Hakka Deep Fried pork as it can help cut down deep frying time (back breaking!). The trick is to fine the balance, how much to SV to tenderize the pork and yet leave enough room for deep frying to do the rest, i.e, adding the outer crust, burning some of the fat away etc.

SV fried chicken? Of course. :)

As for tougher beef cuts, SV works very well. I will say more about SV steaks in the next post.