Star Chef Secrets: Master Perfectly Cooked Fish with This Pro Technique!

Tonight, you’re hosting a dinner. To wow your guests effortlessly, you decide on salmon en papillote. It’s a not-so-secret favorite of yours! After picking up some fillets from the fishmonger, you wrap them in parchment paper with herbs and some seasonal vegetables. Everything is timed perfectly: your guests arrive just as the oven dings. The fillets look great on the plates, but they turn out a bit too tough… To avoid such mishaps, top chefs often prefer a gentler cooking method. “It’s a technique I picked up in a star-rated restaurant,” Chef Léo Hökfelt shares in a video, reassuring that it is “foolproof.”

This young chef has trained with some of the best. During his time at the Institut Paul Bocuse, Léo started as an apprentice and then became a chef de partie at Clos des Sens, a three-star restaurant in Annecy. He reflects: “I learned a tremendous amount, from vegetable prep to fish handling. I got to refine the entire process (dressing, filleting, and deboning).” At this venue overlooking Lake Annecy, Chef Franck Derouet offers a menu focused on “plant-based and lake fare,” rooted in local fishing. Thus, fish is a special focus and is meticulously cared for by the kitchen staff, resulting in tender, pearlescent trout, monkfish, cod, and pike.

Léo begins by coating the fish in coarse salt, letting it rest for 15 to 30 minutes depending on the fillet size. This step “firmens the flesh and enhances the flavor,” he notes. He then rinses and dries the fillets. Now, for the cooking part! And it’s not just any method… Léo teaches us the technique of confit fish today. He submerges the fish in a pot filled with oil, “ideally at 58°C”. While he prefers grape seed oil, any type will do. There’s no need to drown it in oil; just enough to cover the fish. After 4 to 5 minutes, he removes the fillet. To check if it’s cooked, Léo sees if the skin peels off easily. “If you can remove it effortlessly, it’s a sign that it’s done,” he explains. If not, the fish needs another minute of cooking time.

If you’re dealing with a large chunk, it’s better to slice it into smaller fillets, or let it cook a bit longer. This low-temperature cooking method, favored by star-rated restaurants, yields an incredibly tender, pearlescent, and juicy texture. Your guests will be amazed!