Lunch
Peruvian Roast Chicken
Lunch
Chicken & Preserved Lemon Tagine
Lunch
Coconut Lime Shrimp
Lunch
⏲ ~32 min total · prep 14 · cook 18 · 4 servings
Published Sep 15, 2026 · Updated Sep 15, 2026
Bring the oil to 170°F over the lowest setting, about 10 minutes, and watch for lazy bubbles around the garlic. If the oil simmers, lift the skillet off the heat and let it drift back down. Salmon poached too hot tightens and weeps white protein at the surface.
Fillets poking out of the oil cook unevenly and gray at the waterline. A deep 10-inch skillet fits four 6-ounce fillets under 3 cups of oil in one layer. Nudge them down if a corner insists on floating.
A minute on a rack lets the surface oil run off so salt actually sticks instead of sliding. This is also why the sauce pools under the fish rather than over it. Season lightly; the fish sauce in the sauce carries salt too.
The instructions allow the strained oil one more poaching batch within a few days. Strain it cool into a jar and refrigerate. Past one reuse it turns fishy, and it should never get mixed back into fresh pantry oil.
Simmer the coconut milk 4-5 minutes until it thickly coats the back of a spoon. Fish sauce and lime juice go in off the heat so their edges stay sharp. Made ahead, the sauce thickens further as it cools; loosen it with a spoonful of the poaching oil.
Pool the lemongrass sauce on warmed plates and lay a fillet on each, then scatter cilantro over the top. Leave the chili rings sitting in the sauce where diners meet the heat gradually; don't stir them in. Steamed greens or sauteed bok choy round the plate, and at 18.5 net carbs a serving most of the count lives in the coconut milk, so lighter sides keep the meal balanced. Eat this one slowly. The texture is the reward for all that patience over low heat.
Refrigerate the fillets and the sauce separately in shallow containers for 3 to 4 days. Confit salmon is genuinely good cold, flaked over greens or folded into egg dishes, and it reheats gently in a low oven without drying if you stop at warmed-through. Strain the cooled poaching oil into a jar for its one allowed reuse within a few days. The sauce thickens in the fridge; warm it slowly and whisk in a spoonful of the oil to loosen it. Skip the freezer here, because the delicate poached texture doesn't survive thawing.
Oil surrounds every surface at a steady 160-175°F, gentler than any pan contact. The flesh poaches evenly and stays glossy, with none of the white protein squeeze you get from high heat. It costs nothing but patience and 3 cups of oil.
No, because the recipe builds in one reuse: strain it once cool, refrigerate, and poach a second batch within a few days. A tablespoon of it also cooks the sauce base. It's an ingredient in this method, not a disposal problem.
The recipe pulls the fillets at 120-125°F internal, where the edges turn opaque and the center flakes in thick sections. Oil held at 160-175°F gives a wide window, so the fish can't overshoot fast. Hold it longer in the oil if you prefer firmer flesh.
It's 2 teaspoons, and it reads as savoriness rather than fishiness once it hits the warm sauce. Omit it and add an extra pinch of salt with another squeeze of lime. The sauce works without it; it loses a little depth.
Depth lets four 6-ounce fillets submerge fully in 3 cups of oil, and the width keeps them in a single layer. A shallower pan means stacking or shorting the oil, and both poach unevenly. Deep sides also mean less spatter at 170°F.
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