SOUS VIDE AT HOME: The Modern Technique for Perfectly Cooked Meals
Lisa Q. Fetterman
Ten Speed Press
November 1, 2016
$35/Hardcover
ISBN-13: 978-0399578069
Lisa Q. Fetterman is the founder and CEO of Nomiku—the first home sous vide machine. She was named 30 under 30 by Forbes and was honored at the White House Maker Faire. She lives in San Francisco.
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SOUS VIDE AT HOME illustrates how easy it is to harness the power of sous vide technology to achieve restaurant-quality dishes, regardless of skill level.
Sous vide, the process of cooking ingredients to perfect tenderness using immersion circulation, has been popular in restaurants for years. Now, with portable and affordable technology, this method is becoming one of today’s hottest trends in home cooking. SOUS VIDE AT HOME offers a much-needed collection of approachable recipes that showcase the versatility of this innovative appliance.
Pork Rib Adobo
Serves 4 as a main course | Sous Vide Cooking Time: 12 hours (or up to 18 hours) | Active Prep Time: 20 minutes
The food of the Philippines is a hybrid born of cross-pollination between foreign Spanish influence and the islands’ endemic cuisine. One of its culinary marvels is adobo, a dish whose outward simplicity belies a complex balance of sour, salty, savory, and sweet. This version, which is a distillation of different regional styles, comes from my friend Anthony, sous vide enthusiast and Filipino cook extraordinaire. The best part of this recipe is that while the pork cooks, the juice it releases combines with the marinade to form a marvelously flavorful sauce, no additional steps required. It’s almost mandatory to serve this dish with rice; the sauce is crazy good, and you’ll want something to soak it up.
MARINADE
- ½ cup coconut, cane, or cider vinegar
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 red Thai or other fresh red chile (such as Fresno or finger), thinly sliced
- 3 pounds St. Louis–style pork ribs or other meaty rib cut, cut into 3-rib portions if desired
DO-AHEAD STRATEGY
Adobo originated as a form of meat preservation, so it can easily be stored for a later date. The cooked pork ribs can be chilled in the bag in an ice water bath for 20 minutes and then refrigerated for up to 1 week. Reheat in a 60°C (140°F) water bath for 30 minutes.
Preheat your sous vide water bath to 70°C (158°F).
To make the marinade, in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine all of the ingredients and mix well.
Place the pork ribs in a single layer in a gallon-size freezer-safe ziplock bag, pour in the marinade, and seal using the displacement method.
When the water reaches the target temperature, lower the bagged ribs into the water bath (making sure the bag is fully submerged) and cook for 12 hours. I recommend checking the water bath every few hours to see that the bag is still fully submerged. I also suggest covering the bath with plastic wrap or aluminum foil to minimize evaporation.
Remove the bag from the bath and transfer the pork, along with its precious liquid, to a serving platter. Serve with rice on the side and encourage your guests to spoon the glorious adobo sauce on top of their portion.
Mulled Apple Cider
Serves 4 | Sous Vide Cooking Time: 45 minutes (or up to 1½ hours) | Active Prep Time: 5 minutes
Because 70°C is a good serving temperature for a hot drink but is below the boiling point of alcohol, it’s the perfect temperature at which to infuse and serve boozy wintery drinks like mulled wine and spiced cider. (This same recipe would work with red wine swapped in for the cider.) For that reason, once you’ve strained out the spices (to prevent overextraction and bitterness), the cider can be returned to the bag (or transferred to sealable heat-safe mason jar or bottle) and kept in the water bath at 70°C practically indefinitely without degrading, which makes it great for holiday gatherings or for a bitterly cold night alone. It’s critical that you use whole spices to infuse the cider, as ground ones would create an undesirable gritty mouthfeel.
- 4 cups apple cider or apple juice
- ½ cup apple brandy (such as applejack or Calvados), (optional)
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 whole nutmeg, crushed with the flat of a heavy knife or a pot bottom
- 15 whole cloves (about ½ teaspoon)
- 3 (3-inch-long) cinnamon sticks
- Zest of 1 orange, removed in strips with a vegetable peeler, including as little of the bitter white pith as possible
- 2 star anise pods
Preheat your sous vide water bath to 70°C (158°F).
Place all of the ingredients in a gallon-size freezer-safe ziplock bag and seal using the water displacement or table-edge method. I recommend the latter method for recipes with a relatively large amount of liquid.
When the water reaches the target temperature, lower the bagged cider ingredients into the water bath and cook for 45 minutes.
Remove the bag from the water bath. Strain the cider through a fine-mesh sieve into a heatproof pitcher or a large liquid measuring cup to remove the spices.
The hot cider is now ready to drink or to pour over ice cream in the Appogato. The strained cider can also be cooled and stored in the same bag or a tightly capped mason jar. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
If you’ve cooled the cider, reheat in a 70°C (158°F) water bath for 20 minutes. If you don’t include the brandy, it can be heated on the stove top. I don’t recommend stove-top heating for the boozy version, however, because if the cider reaches too high a temperature, the alcohol will burn off, defeating the whole purpose!
PRO TIP
As with all of my beverage infusions, this recipe should be seen as a guide rather than a canonical formula. If you have a blend of spices you like for mulling, go ahead and swap it in.
Reprinted with permission from SOUS VIDE AT HOME, by Lisa Q. Fetterman, copyright © 2016, published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. $35.
Photographs copyright © 2016 by Monic Lo
Contact: Erin Welke
510-285-2948
Erin.Welke@tenspeed.com