This dish was not very popular amongst our guests or Larry himself, but my staff and I still thought that it was a successful one.

It involved a few modern techniques, as well as a breed of fish that I had never worked with. Hawiian Opah (also known as moon fish) is a meaty fish, with fairly high oil content. The flesh was pink, dense, and after tasting it made want to describe it as a cross between ahi tuna, and salmon. We decided to prepare this fish sous vide. First we brined the fish for about 12 minutes in a very salty solution, which contained grated citrus zest, tarragon, ground coriander, and Thai long peppercorns. Once the fish was brined we made a marinade that used extra virgin olive oil and the same aromatics as the brine. Once the fish was vacuum sealed we poached it at 58 degrees Celsius for 14 minutes. Once finished we pulled the fish out of the tank and let it rest for about 5 minutes before shocking in an ice bath.  The final texture of the fish was very silky and delicate, almost reminiscent of sashimi. The flavors of citrus, fennel, and coriander, also came through nicely without over powering the fish.

As for the set I wanted something that would stand up to the meatiness of the fish, but not steal the show. I decided on brussels sprouts, roasted celeriac, fresh seabeans and braised fennel. All played nicely with one another, and none tried to steal the show from the star Opah.  

For the gribiche, we took the easy way out by making a mayonnaise from scratch and then adding cooked egg yolks, and whites, chopped capers, tarragon vinegar, Dijon, chopped cornichons, and chervile. The problem that we were coming across was the sauce breaking as soon as we placed it on a hot plate. So we added a little Methocellulous - SGA 5 (a thermoreversable hydrocolloid that can also be found in retail versions of puddings, stuffing’s, béchamel, pizza toppings, etc.).

When the dish was assembled as you see it in the photo. I have to say it ate very well together, but then again I love Fish with mayonnaise or anything with mayonnaise for that matter. It was suggested to me, that maybe a vinaigrette would be more appropriate, but I stuck with my guns and kept the sauce gribiche, after all we took the time to mutate it with chemicals to keep it stable when exposed to hot temperatures. We did later switch the fish over to Alaskan King Salmon, but still with no luck. Again I very much enjoyed the the way the dish ate. Especially after we took the skin from the Salmon and slowly dehydrated it in the oven to make crispy Salmon skin Chips, but this still did not entice the customers.

So long story short, a lot of effort went in to this dish, and for those of you who ordered it and enjoyed it, Thank You.