People who know me will realize that I like to eat good food and also occasionally cook during important events like Christmas eve or CNY reunion dinners. The attraction of cooking for me : (1) learning new dishes and (2) it is quite therapeutic at times, to help me destress.
Recently, my interest has been sparked again by the process known as Sous Vide. It is a well-known cooking technique used by most fine restaurants to cook food that is close to perfection every time by inserting food packed into a plastic bag and then placing the bag into a water bath. By slowly cooking food in a warm water bath at a constant temperature, one can achieve a consistent cooking texture. This method is very scientific and less of an art. The end product will come out perfect every time because it is idiot proof. Think of it as a science experiment where the food is cooked from the inside out. It will never overcook because the controlled temperature is not high enough to allow the food to be overdone.
Just some history here. The French refined sous vide processes in the 1960s and American chefs rediscovered it in the 1990s and slowly brought it to the mainstream audience over the last 20 years, refining it into a simple process with technology. The sous vide machines are normally quite expensive but prices have been dropping drastically over time.
In the last 2 years, an American company called Anova had built a cheap sous vide machine that looks like a simple metal tube which can click onto any large containers. My friend says it looks like a big vibrator (see photo below). It simply contains a heating coil, a tiny fan to circulate the water and a very sensitive temperature control sensor. The basic one costs about US$200 and the advanced version even has WiFi control capabilities. I happen to be shopping in Qoo10 a few weeks ago and pleasantly found a made in China model for half the price.
For the last 2 weeks, I have been experimenting with my new toy using eggs as a starting point. The research from the web proposes temperatures between 63 degrees Celsius (63C) to 75 for difference eggs textures. My personal favorite at the moment is 63 C for 40 minutes to get an onsen like egg. I happened to have a whiskey+meats friends get together dinner the other weekend and we also had some lamb chops to try at 63C. It turned out perfectly pink inside and nicely cooked, full of flavour out of the bag. Apparently, one can cook food in sous vide in batches and then keep the uneaten balance in the refrigerator for a few days and then warm them up to room temperature when we want to eat them later, since the food is never overcooked.
Next to try on my list was steak. Ideally, I will get a Tomahock steak, bag it with rosemary, salt and pepper plus a few slices of garlic into a Ziploc bag and sous vide for 2 hours at 55C for a medium rare outcome. Just before serving, one should use butter to pan sear the meat, to provide a nice outer crust.
There was some cause for concern on the use of plastic bags for sous vide. Based on what I found on the web, the issue was EPA found in some plastic products that can decompose to a toxic substance if heat was applied. I reasoned that sous vide only uses temperatures that are 80C or below and that the warm water bath is not for a long period of time, hence it should be ok. Also, I try not to reuse the bags, getting a new one each time. With greater awareness of EPA, most commonly sold bags should be alright. Alternatively, one can use silicon bags.
https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/what-is-sous-vide
Anyway, I will continue to experiment with my new toy. Seems like there is a better way to prepare food that is cheap and easy to do. We can all cook like a pro now!
