Pan Roasted Sturgeon
Sturgeon is currently sitting at the top of my list for favorite fish. It has a great meatiness to it that almost falls into the realm of chicken texture. It doesn't flake apart like Cod and is perfectly suited for sous vide preparation. I paired this with a creamy risotto, partly because I wanted to try using something other than Aborio and also because I had some chard leftovers that were waiting to be used. Risotto style dishes are magnets for leftovers. You can fold in meats, veg or pretty much anything else you can think of. It reheats beautifully and is cheap to make. Check the post on basic risotto skills and apply that here.
Ingredients
- 1lbs sturgeon (skin removed)
- Fish Cleansing Brine (recipe here)
- Jade Pearl Rice (or whichever grain you want to work with. Aborio is the most common)
- Chicken stock (store bought or make your own from this post)
- 1/2 yellow onion, minced
- 2/3 cup dry white wine (sauvignon blanc)
- canola oil
- kosher salt
- onion powder
- fresh cracked black pepper
- Sautéed Rainbow Chard (recipe here)
Prep
- Fish: Remove the skin from the sturgeon by laying it skin side down on your cutting board. Press your hand on the top of the filet, insert your knife just above the skin, and with long, smooth swipes, cut the meat from the skin by following the line. (see how to skin a filet in depth here)
- Cleaning Brine: It's always good to give the fish a quick salt brine. I use a 6% brine for 8-10 minutes. So for quick reference, if you're using 2,000ml of water, you'll want to use 120g of salt. You'll want to use your food scale and your liquid measuring cups for this. A more in-depth explanation can be found here. Remove the fish from the brine, rinse and dry thoroughly by placing on c-fold or standard paper towels. Depending on how the fish was butchered, you may need to remove the belly meat for a cleaner presentation. Here is a visual aide for the belly meat versus the body meat.
- Veg: Peel and mince the onion.
- Rice: Jade pearl and Aborio rice does not need to be washed, so you can skip that step. All you'll need to do here is measure out how much rice you want to make.
- Chard: Wash your chard thoroughly. Chop and discard the ends of the chard and separate the leaves from the stalks. Cut the chard leaves into fifths. Slice the stalks into 1" pieces. Blanch the stalks and sauté the leaves. Check the actual recipe for a more in-depth instructions.
Cooking Instructions
Chard
Prepare the chard first in this recipe. It will then get folded into the risotto.
Risotto
While the chard is cooking, you can begin cooking your risotto. The fish will be the last thing we cook here. The risotto will hold it's heat for a while and can easily be reheated just prior to serving. For an in-depth look at how to make great risotto, check out this post.
In a medium saucepan, heat your stock to a low simmer. Keep it covered so it doesn't evaporate. Heat your saucepan or saucier over medium heat, add your canola oil and heat until shimmering. Add your minced onion and saute until translucent. Add your rice and saute until it just starts to become translucent. 2-3 minutes. Add your white wine and reduce by 2/3. Add your first ladle of stock and 2 nice pinches of salt. You want to season the rice right in the beginning so it carries the flavor throughout the cooking process. Your cooking time for Jade pearl rice may be shorter than Aborio rice, so be sure to test it as you go. You should expect a cooking time between 15-20 minutes depending on the amount and heat intensity. Ladle in the stock and stir constantly. When the stock gets low, add more. Make sure the rice never dries out or sticks to the pan. After your rice is cooked, remove it from the heat and adjust your seasonings. If you plan on adding cheese, go light with this since it's a fish dish. You want to add to the flavor but stop short of making cheesy rice. You can now fold your cooked chard into the rice.
Sturgeon
Sturgeon is a pretty durable fish and can stand up to high heat searing. Preheat your oven to 375. If you're planning on making multiple servings out of one filet, cut it first and cook them individually rather than cooking the entire filet and cutting it afterwards. Cutting it after will allow heat to escape, make a mess of your hands and removes the ability to get some nice caramelization on the sides.Take your prepped fish and start by seasoning the bottom with kosher salt and a bit of onion powder. Flip the filet over and repeat. I'd advise against using black pepper at this point since it burns, which means it's better left for the end as a finishing seasoning. Now you can begin heating your fry pan over medium high heat. Add the canola oil to the pan and wait for it to come to temperature and is shimmering. Put the seasoned sturgeon in the pan presentation side down. We want to sear the pretty side first. We're going to abide by the cooking for color mantra and only cook the fish until we get a perfect golden brown color. Take a peek at the 2 minute mark and determine if it's where we want it to be. Color is what's important here, not doneness. Flip the fish and sear for another two minutes. After two minutes, transfer the pan to the oven and cook until the internal temperature reaches 128. This could take anywhere from 5-12 or more minutes depending on the thickness if your filet. My filet was just short of 2 inches and cooked for just about 10 minutes in the oven. A probe will greatly aide your in nailing the perfect fish temperature. Once cooked, remove the fish from the oven and transfer to a rack for 3 minutes while you begin to build the plate.
Plating
Add a teaspoon of good EVOO to the bottom of the plate and crack some fresh ground pepper (finely ground). Spoon your chard risotto into the center of the dish. Place your sturgeon on top of the risotto. Sprinkle with finely ground cracked pepper and Maldon salt.
