However, I don’t want to go into any more detail about Open Blue ‘s mariculture here, because I will have the opportunity to see it in person in April and report in more detail.
In the last few days, I have been working more intensively with the firm-fleshed fillets of cobia in the kitchen at home. The result is two recipes that I can recommend without reservation. The nice thing is that you can process the cobia in almost all conceivable forms of preparation. Raw as sashimi, fried, grilled or steamed.
Ceviche from cobia
I always find it a bit silly when bridling methods become trending topics. Because actually, according to this, the ceviche would have clearly arrived again this year on the descending wave, the plateau of the hype cycle. And that does absolute injustice to this wonderfully light and close-to-product dish. Especially since it is done quickly – and, following some important basic rules, it can not go wrong at all.
Ingredients:
for four people
600gr Cobia (as fillet)
4-5 limits
2 hot chillies
2 red onions
2 ripe avocados
1 jar trout caviar
Pea shoots
Coriander
Olive oil
Salt & PepperPreparation
For my ceviche, I cut the cobia into cubes that should have an edge length of a little under an inch. This gives a little more bite and provides a little less surface area, so the acid doesn’t pull all the way to the center of the cubes. Of course, you can also work with thin tranches. By the way, for firmer fish, it is best to cut them across the lamella of the fish.Let the cubes marinate for a good 5 minutes in plenty of lime juice along with the onions, thin slices of the chili and a teaspoon of salt. A great counterpart for the acidity and slight spiciness of ceviche can be found with a ripe avocado. It is most beautiful when peeled and then cut large, full slices to the left and right of the core.
Remove the marinated fish from the marinade and spread over the avocado. Drizzle some of the marinade over the top and add plenty of good olive oil. Next to it I placed some trout caviar and a small but fine piece of lightly (at about 180 degrees) seared cobia fillet. Top with a few pea shoots, some coarse pepper and finely chopped stalks of cilantro. Et voilá.
Open lasagna of confit cobia with beurre blanc
Actually, the Cobia survives even rough and vigorous cooking methods. But I was interested in how a particularly gentle bath in olive oil gets him. In short: sensational. Apart from the quite substantial beurre blanc, this has resulted in a fresh and light Mediterranean recipe.
Ingredients
600 g cobia
350 ml olive oil
Rosemary
Garlic
Chili
2 Fennel
2 carrots
2 zucchini
1 Orange
Herbs
2 tablespoons Prelibato Riserva (white balsamic vinegar)
4 shallots
100 ml fish stock
100 ml white wine
2 tablespoons pastis
170 g butter
coarse sea saltPreparation
First, the cobia comes in the form of not too small fillets already cut into shape (for four people you should calculate accordingly four fillets á 150 g) in well-tempered olive oil: 70 degrees are ideal. It is allowed to swim in it for about 20 minutes along with a few needles of rosemary, a small piece of garlic and a few chilies. Turn gently from time to time.
During this time, you can finely dice some vegetables. I used fennel, carrot and zucchini. Sauté in olive oil at a light temperature (about 120 degrees). The vegetables should definitely still retain a strong bite. Before serving, I added a touch of orange juice and 2 tablespoons of Prelibato Riserva (white balsamic). This gives the crunchy vegetables a perfect balance between slightly sour and fruity sweet.It is best to test the cooking time of the pasta briefly beforehand. Depending on the lasagna slab, aim for 8-12 minutes for a pasta cooked only minimally al dente. Fresh pasta cooks much faster, of course.
Now it’s high time to sweat some shallots for the beurre blanc. Then deglaze with white wine, fish stock and a large dash of Pastis (about 210 ml of liquid in total) and let it reduce to a third of the amount and strain through a fine sieve. Now bring the strained stock back to the boil and immediately reduce the temperature to a maximum of 90 degrees. Gradually stir in small cubes of ice-cold butter (approx. 180 g) with a whisk.
It can be served very quickly: spread the foamy beurre blanc on four deep plates, let the pasta slide halfway into the butter, then fill with vegetables and the fish and sprinkle with fresh herbs and a little sea salt, let the pasta fall lightly over the fish.More ideas for recipes with cobia
A few days ago, I was able to convince myself of further recipe ideas with the fish from Panama at a press event in Hamburg’s Frischeparadies. After some information about the fish and a presentation of the best way to fillet even a whole fish, there were a total of five variations to taste: as sashimi with soy sauce espuma, as ceviche, steamed and fried.
