Poaching 101

Quick Cooking Guide for a Delicately Delicious Meal

To poach means to cook food for a short time in a small amount of hot, but not boiling liquid, just until tender. Poaching results in subtly flavored delicate ingredients that have a refined appeal. Often poached items are embellished with flavorful buttery sauces, sometimes made from the poaching liquid itself. Foods that are poached typically include fish, boneless chicken breasts, eggs and fruits.

The Equipment

Poaching pans vary in size and shape depending on the food items that are being prepared. Small foods like eggs are best poached in a shallow sauté pan with enough room for 1-2 eggs and liquid to cover them. Chicken breasts and fish fillets may be poached in sauté pans with enough room for liquid to cover and surround each piece. For 2-4 servings a 10-12-inch sauté pan works just fine.

Whole fish is best poached in an oval-shaped fish poacher with a fitted rack. The rack of a fish poacher has handles that allow you to lift the entire fish out of the liquid in one piece. For smaller cuts of fish and poultry, as well as eggs and fruits, it’s best to use a slotted spoon or spatula to transfer poached foods from cooking liquid to serving plates.

The Poaching Liquid

Poaching liquid may be as basic as lightly salted water or as intricate as an herb infused tea. Ideally, poaching liquids complement the flavors of the ingredients that will be cooked in them.

For instance, eggs are typically poached in salted water, sometime with a touch of vinegar. Fish is often cooked in a seafood broth called a “court bouillon” seasoned with white wine, herbs and spices. Chicken may be poached in a chicken broth based liquid and fruits are cooked in simple syrup. Whether you are poaching in white wine, chicken broth, water or simple syrup, it is necessary to heat your liquid between 160-180 °F in order to poach properly.

The Ingredients

Foods that are commonly poached include; eggs, fish, chicken breast and fruits. They are naturally tender ingredients that can be served on their own or intensified with complimentary sauces and other foods. For instance, poached eggs are often served on salty corned beef hash or with savory Canadian bacon and hollandaise sauce for a classic Eggs Benedict.

They require very short cooking times and often will break down or overcook if poached for too long or exposed to a rolling boil. Small or large sized cuts may be poached, but not at the same time. It is key to start with uniform sized pieces so that everything cooks evenly in the same time period.

How to Poach:

1. Carefully place ingredients in a lightly greased sauté or poaching pan. (If using a fish poacher, place whole fish onto lightly greased rack.) Pour just enough liquid into pan to cover ingredients. When poaching large items like whole fish, it is necessary to start with cold liquid and heat gradually for even cooking throughout. For smaller items like eggs, fish fillets and chicken cutlets, you may start poaching in hot liquid
2. Heat pan over a medium flame until there is gentle movement in the liquid, but no simmering bubbles form. Add food and cover and cook, on the stovetop or in the oven, just until tender.
3. Transfer poached food from pan to plate using a slotted spoon or spatula, or simply by removing inserted rack from poaching pan. Make sure to allow excess liquid to run off before plating. At this point, many cooks use the poaching liquid to start a sauce for their dishes by reducing it, adding additional ingredients and smoothing out the flavor with butter or cream.