Rose fish with sous vide fennel

Rose fish:
De-scale the fish, fillet and remove bones. Cut about 3 pieces of 130 g each from the center piece of each fillet. Put the 6 pieces to the side.

Fennel broth:
Wash the fennel, cut into large pieces and juice in a juicer. Add the fennel juice to the veal stock, the freshly pressed lemon juice, the fennel seed, salt and pepper to a pan and bring to a boil. Mix the butter into the fennel broth using a hand blender. Then press the fennel broth through a sieve.

Fennel (sous vide):
Pluck the wispy green frond and flower stems from the fennel stalks and reserve them for later in a moist towel. Cut the fennel stalks into length-wise pieces, wash and seal in a vacuum bag with 1/3 of the fennel broth. Cook for 8 minutes at 65 °C in the fusionchef sous vide water bath. Then place next to one another in an oven-proof dish.

Caramelized fennel seed:
Lightly roast the fennel seed on a baking sheet in a pre-heated oven (both top and bottom heat) at 160  °C for 6 minutes. Put the water with the sugar in a pan and heat to 115  °C. Immediately add the roasted fennel seed. Heat the sugar syrup long enough that the sugar caramelizes and the fennel seeds are completely coated. Add the butter to the caramelized fennel seed and allow to cool on a baking sheet.

Rose fish:
Place the rose fish fillet pieces on the cooked fennel. Pour the fennel broth over it but do not cover the fish with the broth. Cover the pan with a lid or seal tightly with aluminum foil and poach in a pre-heated oven at 160  °C (convection). The exact cooking time depends on the thickness of the fish pieces. After poaching, lightly salt rose fish.

Serving:
Distribute some fennel flower stems and a bit of the leafy green into the pan. Sprinkle the caramelized fennel seed over the poached red fish fillets and serve.

Tip:
Use the fennel bulb to make a vegetable side dish. The fennel-butter broth tastes fabulous after steaming. Rose fish is a very exquisite tasting fish which, when freshly caught and of top quality, is every bit as good as flounder or loup de mer (European sea bass).

This recipe was kindly provided by Jan Philipp Berner.