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Tuna confit for me


Doodad

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First post all, and glad to be here!

I want to make tuna confit this weekend. I have never confited anything. I understand the process, but does anybody have tips and tricks? Especially in cooking afterward to get it warm again.

Thanks in advance and nice to stop lurking. :smile:

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Well, here's how I would do it.

Normally with a true confit you would want to cure the protein before the cooking process. I don't think that's necessary with the tuna. What you should do is season it with salt liberally, place it in an ovenproof pan, and cover it with a decent quality olive oil. Things like herbs, spices, garlic, peppercorns, etc, can be added to the oil to flavor the oil and the tuna.

Cook it as low as your oven will go for about 45 mins to an hour. Even though the tuna is going to be well done, it is still possible to overcook it too much. The tuna will still be a little on the dry side, but hopefully enough of the flavored oil is present to give you a nice viscous mouth feel and replace the sensation of moisture on your palate.

Now, as far as I know, unlike a true confit this will not keep indefinitely. Plan on using it in a couple of days.

By the way, this type of tuna makes the best tuna sandwiches you've ever had. Make a nice aoili, quick pickle some veg (cukes, onion, etc), and use some good toasty bread.

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I'd just add that you'll want to put the tuna on some sort of rack (or veg) in the oil to keep it from poaching in the liquid the fish will give off as it cooks. You'll probably also want to cool the fish in the fat. The only use I've found for the used cooking oil is to make a fishy mayonnaise and use it in tuna sammiches.

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These fish 'confits' are more accurately described as 'oil-poached', but that doesn't sound as sexy on the menu. I use the technique often for salmon. I do it stovetop, because I find it's hard to keep an eye on things in the oven and most ovens can't stay cool enough for this. The oil temperature is critical; if you go much over 50c you'll start deep- frying, which you don't want. I've haven't found using a rack necessary.

It shouldn't take 45min unless you have a very big slab (which will use a ton of oil).... for a couple of steak-sized pieces, 15-20min will do it. It is certainly possible to overcook it. If you see white coagulated protein oozing out, either you've let the oil get too hot and it's now overcooked on the outside and raw in the middle, or else you've just plan overcooked the whole thing.

Even if a recipe calls for 100% evoo, I use 50/50 evoo/canola to keep the cost rational. Also use the smallest pan that fits the fish to avoid having to use so much oil. The flavour of the oil isn't significant, especially if you're adding pepper, fennel etc. I coffee-filter and refridge the oil after use, and use it for future fishy deep fry and confits.

Hong Kong Dave

O que nao mata engorda.

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Thanks everyone. I think I have a good pan and do plan on stovetop so I can watch and (hopefully) not ruin a good piece of fish.

Any serving suggestions? This will be a small piece used as a second course after onion soup. I was thinking small pieces with tomato and cucumber.

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Can anyone describes what the resulting tuna is like? How does it compare to water-poached?

From lots of experience confiting duck, you might want to try using a jar with high sides instead of a pan.

I 'confit' tuna to use instead of the stuff in cans, using fresh pacific albacore. Water-poached tuna doesn't sound all that appealing, then again I only use this stuff for sandwiches and salads.

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Thanks everyone.  I think I have a good pan and do plan on stovetop so I can watch and (hopefully) not ruin a good piece of fish.

Any serving suggestions?  This will be a small piece used as a second course after onion soup.  I was thinking small pieces with tomato and cucumber.

Your idea sounds simple and lovely. If you wanted to get more involved, you could also make a mini salad nicoise, using a few steamed green beans and little new potatoes, cherry tomatoes and some oil-cured or nicoise olives drizzled with a bit of the olive oil (or some of the oil it was poached in?) and some red-wine or champagne vinegar.

Jan

Seattle, WA

"But there's tacos, Randy. You know how I feel about tacos. It's the only food shaped like a smile....A beef smile."

--Earl (Jason Lee), from "My Name is Earl", Episode: South of the Border Part Uno, Season 2

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Can anyone describes what the resulting tuna is like? How does it compare to water-poached?

From lots of experience confiting duck, you might want to try using a jar with high sides instead of a pan.

I can see where a jar makes some sense except getting it out.

The pan I have is a small sauce pan with fluted sides so that I hope to use no more than a cup of oil. Definitely less than two. I just want a small app for Sunday dinner. I plan to cook Friday night.

As far warming, should I remove from confit and just room temp or heat the whole pan again?

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The last time I made tuna confit, I mashed garlic and thyme with some coarse salt in a mortar and rubbed the mixture lightly over the pieces of tuna, which I then put in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Then I wiped the fish and submerged it in olive oil, barely above 140F.

At that point, you can either cook it all the way through, at the same low temperature, or refrigerate the partially cooked fish for at most a couple of days, and then finish the cooking right before service. Or, as a third option, you can cook it all the way through, put it in the fridge, and serve it at room temperature like canned tuna. (You don't want to serve it cold, because the olive oil congeals and doesn't look appetizing.) Personally, I find it has the best texture when you cook it straight through and serve it immediately.

You have to be very careful with the cooking process, and particularly the temperature. A piece of tuna is much less forgiving than a duck leg, which has a lot of connective tissue, cartilage and its own fat. If you're not careful, the tuna will become dry and barely edible.

If you're going to salt the fish before you cook it, also be careful not to use too much salt. Coarse salt is particularly useful in this regard.

Done correctly, tuna confit can be wonderful--a real revelation to guests who are used to eating the canned stuff.

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What temp and for how long folks?  I am getting some conflicting answers.  140 for 6 hours?

HK Dave said 50 degrees C which is 142 degrees F. The time of <45 minutes was thrown out but so was until it felt just right. I would opt for the idea of cutting a piece and getting it off the fire while still pink.

Good Luck

Robert

Seattle

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I have used the method from Fine Cooking someone upthread posted the link to. It works perfectly and I done it several times. I used the tuna for Salad Nicoise, recipe also from that same article in Fine Cooking.

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