Tetsuya's confit of ocean trout

Tetsuya's is considered one of the world's best restaurants.


(picture from flickr - earlier posted picture removed due to copyright infringement)

His signature dish is confit of ocean trout (pictured above). In the (sydney) magazine, monthly supplement of the Sydney Morning Herald, Matthew Evans wrote about the journey of the fish and he gave away the secret (also multimedia).

In the beginning, Wakuda would often cure the fish a little, particularly if the texture was soft, by salting it briefly, and he has experimented with cooking oils, timing and temperature. "The recipe has changed - over four times," he says. "The fish is more consistent now. We don't cure it any more. No need."

The trout is simply cooked in a light olive oil mixed with grapeseed oil. The fish is immersed in the oil mixed with lightly crushed garlic and herbs, covered with plastic film and cooked for 25 minutes in an oven at about 50-55C, then left to cool. The ends of each fillet tend to become overcooked and are used at staff meals; the remainder provides five to six portions per side. The slices are dipped in konbu (dried kelp) and served on finely shredded fennel with daikon (long radish) and shiso cress. The white plate is dotted with ocean trout roe flavoured with sake and soy. The end result is a dish that mixes salty, silky, crisp and sweet elements.

So the trick of cooking oily fish like salmon or ocean trout is to use very low heat.

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We are moving offices tomorrow, to a new building across the road. There was a lot of packing today.