Poached Salmon Brunch

A simple & elegant dish for brunch lunch or buffet dinner that can be poached the day before. I use a  Norpro Stainless Steel Fish Poacher and find it quite useful though the  10 pounder salmon  (whole, gutted and scales scraped — I keep head and tail on) was almost too big!

For the court-bouillon:
1 onion & 1 carrot sliced, 1 branch of leafy celery, 1 bouquet garni w/2 bay leaves & parsley, whole pepper corns & salt to taste (not if you have used soy sauce).
This time I used soy sauce, mirin, soju, rice vinegar, but white wine and lemon is also appropriate.
Fill the poacher with enough water so the fish will be fully covered.

Add the salmon to the cold liquid, bring to a slow boil. I cooked the 10lbs salmon for 35 minutes at a very slow simmer. Let the salmon cool off completely in the court bouillon — that will keep it moist.

Once cooled, peel the skin delicately and decorate. I used  hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, parsley, lemon wedges because this is what I had and was a bit in a rush, but you can glaze it with a fish gelée with gelatin and add sliced olives and/or cucumbers..etc.

I  served it with a home made olive oil mayonnaise on the side:
Combine 1 large egg yolk* (room temperature), 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard + 1 dash of white wine vinegar & whisk the mixture vigorously in a large stainless steel or glass bowl (I make mine by hand, but you can use an electric whisk). Add the olive oil (total of 1 cup) very, very slowly and gradually,  a few drops at a time is the safest.  The start is crucial, you need to reach thickness and avoid that the emulsion separates. (If it does separate there is a way of saving it: get another egg yolk, whisk it lightly and add slowly to the result of your first attempt, and that should do the trick!)

Voilà, Bon Ap!

*I strongly suggest not only organic eggs, but very very fresh.