‘Sous Vide With Me’ Says Chef Ravish Arora

April 22, 2017

sousvideduckbreast — Duck Breast Sous Vide

The Human Beings lust For Gastronomique indulgence is a foregone conclusion…Our palettes are continually tempted thanks to the various forms of cooking, be it the Roasting, Steaming, Grilling or Sun-Drying that we use over other methods.

In fact, our very own homegrown Dum Pukht Cusine has it’s own identity and can deliver amazing food in terms Of taste, flavour, texture, doneness and consistency but that’s not all…

Technology over the past few years in the culinary world has led to the creation of new forms of cooking i.e. like Molecular Gastronomy & Sous Vide. These styles have elevated the Gastronomique experience to unparalleled heights.

Sous Vide ( Pronounced Sue-Veed) is a French term that implies ”Under Vaccum“.

This is a Precision Temperature cooking method that sees food vacuum-sealed in a non-reactive pouch and heated in a circulating water bath at a gentle temperature until the desired degree of doneness is achieved. Virtually no other method provides more control, allowing you to consistently deliver exactly the same results, time after time. Combined with the Searing, Roasting and other cooking methods, Sous Vide produces truly amazing results that can’t be replicated with any other style. It might be intimidating at first to start cooking in a completely different way, but experts have had time to perfect methods that are easy for people to learn, and have recorded them in cook books; using a sous vide recipe book will make the transition much easier.

High-end restaurants have been using Sous Vide cooking for years now; This technique assumed pore popularity for home chef’s thanks to the availability of affordable and ‘easy to use’ Sous Vide equipment. In fact, there are International companies who have started supplying Sous Vide cooked meats & vegetables to the food trade.

Sous Vide cooking is actually much easier than you think, and usually, involves only three simple steps:

Attach your Precision Cooker to a pot of water and set the time and temperature according to your desired level of Doneness.
Vacuum pack the food and clip it on the side of the pot.
When done, cut the packet open and proceed to finish with Searing /Roasting/Grilling or Broiling to add the crunch and golden exterior to the food.
In case you are serving this later, cool it down & refrigerate. Thaw and use as desired.

So to get you started, here’s a lovely recipe that I personally recommend:

Duck Breast Sous Vide

Serves One
Cooking Temp :- 135Deg F / 57.2 Deg C
Time: 02.54 Hrs
Ingredients
1 Duck Breast 225 Gms
2 Unsalted Butter 15 Gms
3 Thyme 1 Sprig
4 Rice Bran Oil 15 Ml
5 Sea Salt To Taste
Method :
Attach the Precision Cooker to the Pot And Preheat A Water Bath To 135 Deg F/ 57.2 DegC
Score The Duck Skin In A Cross Hatch Pattern. This Will Help Excess Fat To Render Out During The Cooking And Searing Steps.
Place The Duck Breast, Butter, Thyme In A Vaccum Pouch And Vaccum Seal It.
Place The Pouch In The Water Bath For 2. 54 Hrs To Pasteurise It To The Core.
Remove The Duck From The Pot, Cut Open The Pouch, Dry The Duck Breast Completely. Season With The Sea Salt.
To Sear The Duck: Heat The Rice Bran Oil In A Medium Hot Pan , Down ,Carefully Place The Duck With The SkinDown,Cook Till The Skins Gets Crispy And Then Flip It Over And Cook For 30 Seconds.

Remove the Duck form the pan, Allow it to rest for a minute before slicing and serving.