How to Poach a Whole Fish

Ingredients

• 1.whole fish, Cape salmon, kabeljou, or yellowtail; suitably sized; head discarded if desired; tail trimmed
• 2.seasoning, salt, pepper, Maggi Fondor, generous seafood spice; to season fish
• 3.bay leaves, scattered over fish in kettle
• 4.black peppercorns, scattered over fish
• 5.allspice berries, scattered over fish
• 6.onions, 3–4; sliced
• 7.carrots, 3–4; sliced
• 8.fennel, cut up; optional
• 9.wine, enough to cover the fish completely

Method

1. 1.Wash and clean the fish. Discard head if desired. Trim the tail.
2. 2.Season well with salt, pepper, Maggi fondor and seafood spice.
3. 3.Place fish in a fish kettle. Scatter over the bayleaves, peppercorns, allspice, onions, carrots and fennel.
4. 4.Pour over the wine. Wine must cover the fish.
5. 5.Bring to a rolling boil and then poach 8 minutes per kilo.
6. 6.Let fish cool 1 hour in the stock.
7. 7.Wrap fish in a muslin cloth which has been well soaked in the stock. This enables you to peel the skin off the fish.
8. 8.When you have peeled the skin off the fish, cover well and refrigerate until needed.

Notes

• Wine must fully cover the fish — this is a wine-poached method, not a water-based one.
• The muslin soaked in stock is key: it allows the skin to peel away cleanly.
• Serve cold with mayonnaise or the coating sauce from Sybil's Baked Whole Fish.
• Cape salmon (geelbek) = Atractoscion aequidens. Kabeljou = kob/cob. Yellowtail = Seriola lalandi.