Sous Vide

Last Christmas Quoc got me the full do-it-yourself at home sous vide kit. Sous vide is basically cooking food under vacuum in a temperature controlled water bath. The control you have over the cooking this way means the texture and flavour of the food remains undamaged by the high heat associated with other cooking techniques. It's used mainly in swanky restaurants, but lots of people are starting to do it at home now.


Here's the setup. A non-automatic rice cooker and a temperature controller. The water gets heated to an exact temp and the controller keeps it that way.


The food is put into a vacuum pack using a Foodsaver vacuum or similar device. Flavourings are put in too, but strong flavours such as garlic are kept to a minimum, as they get very intense. This is sliced chicken breast with shiitake mushroom and leeks with a knob of butter.The food is then cooked at the ideal temperature for quite a while. Here we did the chicken breasts at 160 F for 25 minutes.


And the final result: The chicken is moist and the mushroom flavour is amazing. Served with a side of caramelised brussels sprouts.