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Redfish Courtbouillon

Name: Redfish Courtbouillon
Prep time: 1 h 38 min
Total time: 1 h 38 min
Cuisine: Cajun/Creole
Ingredients: red fish — 1400 g; vegetable oil — 74 g; all-purpose flour — 60 g; yellow onion — 280 g; green bell pepper — 160 g; celery — 150 g; garlic — 21 g; tinned whole tomatoes — 800 g; fish stock — 700 g; dry white wine — 180 g; bay leaf — 2 g; thyme — 2 g; salt — 10 g; cayenne — 5 g; white pepper — 5 g; spring onions — 60 g; flat-leaf parsley — 7 g; long-grain rice — 400 g

Redfish Courtbouillon reads umami 5.8, allium 4.3 and richness 4.0 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Cajun/Creole main, about 1 hr 38 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 6.8 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 3.5 / 10
Sour & Bright — 3.4 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 1.7 / 10
Rich & Fat — 4.1 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 4.9 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 5.8 · Allium 4.3 · Richness 4.0 · Salinity 4.0 · Marine & Briny 3.8 · Heat 3.0 · Sweetness 2.8 · Sourness 2.7 · Fruity 2.4 · Citrus 2.3 · Herbaceous 2.3 · Funk & Ferment 1.9 · Warm Spice 1.7 · Earthy 1.5 · Floral 1.5 · Bitterness 1.0

What's in it (18)

red fish — 1400 g
vegetable oil — 74 g
all-purpose flour — 60 g
yellow onion — 280 g
green bell pepper — 160 g
celery — 150 g
garlic — 21 g
tinned whole tomatoes — 800 g
fish stock — 700 g
dry white wine — 180 g
bay leaf — 2 g
thyme — 2 g
salt — 10 g
cayenne — 5 g
white pepper — 5 g
spring onions — 60 g
flat-leaf parsley — 7 g
long-grain rice — 400 g

Time & effort: about 1 hr 38 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 115.3 kcal, 8.5 g protein, 4.4 g fat, 10 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

Louisiana courtbouillon — pronounced coo-bee-yon along the bayous — has almost nothing to do with the French court-bouillon it borrowed its name from. The French version is a thin aromatic poaching liquid that gets thrown away. This is a thick, dark, roux-based tomato stew that fish is poached in and served with, over rice, and it is one of the great Cajun one-pot dishes.
Redfish is the traditional fish and it is red drum, a Gulf fish with firm, sweet, large-flaked flesh that holds together in a stew. Commercial redfish fishing was closed in the late 1980s after the blackened-redfish craze nearly wiped the stock out, so what you buy now is farmed or line-caught by recreational quota. Black drum, sheepshead and grouper are all honest stand-ins with the same firm flake; a soft fish like cod will shred into the sauce.
Make the roux first and give it your whole attention. Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat, whisk in the flour, and stir constantly with a flat wooden spoon for 18 minutes, until it is the colour of an old penny — dark, past peanut butter, short of chocolate. It goes from perfect to burnt in under a minute at that stage. If you see black specks, throw it away and begin again; there is no fixing a burnt roux.
Tip the onion, bell pepper and celery into the roux all at once — the trinity, and the moment of adding it stops the roux cooking, which is half of why it goes in cold. Cook 10 minutes, stirring, until soft. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.
Add the crushed tomatoes and cook 10 minutes, until the mixture darkens and pulls away from the sides of the pot.
Whisk in the fish stock and white wine a little at a time so no lumps form, add the bay and thyme, and simmer uncovered 45 minutes, until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon and the raw flour taste is entirely gone. Skim any oil that rises. Season with the salt, cayenne and white pepper.
Season the fish pieces lightly, slide them into the sauce in a single layer, and poach 12 minutes at the barest simmer, spooning sauce over but never stirring — stirring breaks the fillets up. They are done when the flesh flakes at a gentle push.
Scatter the spring onions and parsley and serve in bowls over rice, with plenty of sauce.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Shrimp Creole — Cajun/Creole
Gazpacho-Style Shrimp — Spanish
Asian Nachos With Pecorino, Cheddar & Shrimp — Fusion
Cioppino-Style Seafood Stew — Italian-American
Seafood Cioppino — Italian-American

Keep reading: what umami, allium, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.