Tomato Poached Fish with Orange and Fennel

This tomato poached fish features a flavorful broth of fennel seeds, chili flakes, garlic, shallots, tomato paste, white wine, and orange juice. A dollop of skyr provides a mild creaminess. Poaching is a simple and easy way to develop a soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture for fish without overcooking it.

Have you ever poached fish before?

It might sound intimidating, but it's actually quite straightforward! You start by making a broth for your fish to swim in, submerge the fish in the liquid, and cook it at a gentle heat to maintain a soft and pleasant texture.

What Makes This Recipe Special

• Poaching the fish, or cooking it at a lower temperature, keeps the structure of the meat intact while developing a soft and tender texture. This method greatly reduces the risk of overcooking the fish.
• Garlic, shallots, fennel, chili flakes, and orange zest provide lots of aromatic notes that pair beautifully with a tomato-paste infused broth and white fish.
• A dollop of skyr and a sprinkling of herbs help contrast the aromatic, acidic notes of the broth. I absolutely love pairing seafood with citrus, like in my salmon crudo recipe.

For more tasty dinner ideas, try my salmon meuniere, lentil pot pie, spaghetti arrabbiata, or creamy pepper jack mac & cheese.

What is Poaching?

Likely you've heard of poaching before, and maybe you've even poached meat, like chicken or fish. But you may be wondering, what exactly IS poaching? And what's the difference between poaching and simmering?

Basically, poaching describes a cooking method where a particular ingredient is submerged in a hot liquid. Poaching occurs at a lower temperature than simmering or boiling, which is especially useful for maintaining the structure of delicate ingredients like fish (aka less flaking, less falling apart).

Poaching typically occurs between 140°F -190°F (60°C -88°C), so there's a bit of a range. At the lowest range, the liquid is just beginning to heat up. The water bubbles are extremely tiny; the water is not even steaming yet.

I like to poach my fish for this recipe at the other end of the range, closer to a simmer, around 190°F to 200°F. The liquid has small bubbles all, with a few small bubbles coming up to the surface and popping. There should not be large bubbles at all, but the broth will be nice and steamy. I find this temperature cooks the fish relatively quickly without overcooking it.

Ingredient Notes

• Firm white fish: You'll want to cook a relatively firm, thick fish fillet for this recipe. Avoid thin, super flaky fish like tilapia. Cod, halibut, and red snapper are great options. The fish should be ⅓-inch to ½-inch thick, so that it's firm enough to stay together but not so thick that it'll take forever to cook.
• Orange: Use a nice, juicy orange for this fish, such as Cara Cara oranges.
• Fennel seeds: Fennel seeds add a savory sweetness to the broth. If you don't have fennel seeds, you can use fresh fennel.
• White wine: I tested this recipe with and without white wine, but the white wine version was declared the winner. I find that the addition of white wine helps cut the tomato flavor nicely.
• Skyr, greek yogurt, or creme fraiche: I recommend a generous dollop of skyr/yogurt/creme fraiche to add some creaminess to the dish.

How to Make Tomato Poached Fish

Step 1: Prep the aromatics - Slice the garlic and shallot. Zest and juice the orange.

Step 2: Cook the aromatics - Saute the red pepper flakes, fennel seeds, garlic, shallot, and orange zest until they're nice and golden-brown and a little crispy.

Step 3 - Add the tomato paste - Cook down the tomato paste until it transforms from bright red to brick red, and the oil begins to separate. This can take a few minutes, so don't rush this! It's important the tomato paste cooks properly so that it has a robust, caramelized flavor instead of a bracing acidic taste.

Step 4 - Reduce the wine and orange juice - Add the wine and orange juice and deglaze the pan. Scrape up any bits at the bottom with a wooden spoon. Let that reduce.

Step 5 - Simmer the broth - Add the fish sauce (if using) and water and bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer the broth until it's thickened slightly and, well, tastes good.

By tastes good, I mean it should be well-salted, tangy (but not too acidic), and aromatic. If it tastes a bit diluted or too acidic, continue simmering. Make sure to season it nicely with salt and pepper, because you want the fish to cook in a very flavorful broth. Stir in the butter.

Step 6 - Cook the fish - Reduce the heat to a low simmer, then carefully add the fish. Make sure it's nicely submerged in the liquid. Let it simmer, uncovered, until cooked through.

Step 7 - Serve - Use a spatula to gently transfer the fish to serving bowls. Top with broth, a generous dollop of skyr, and lots of herbs.

Make it a Meal

Serve this tomato poached fish with crusty bread to sop up all the delicious liquid! It would also be great with orzo. Either way, I'd also recommend serving this with a kale caesar salad.

Tips & Tricks

• Season early and often: Season, season, season! You want to make sure your broth is super flavorful, so make sure you season when sauteeing the aromatics, simmering the broth, and cooking the fish. Salt really helps bring out the flavors of the dish!
• Be gentle with the fish: Use a spatula to carefully lower the fish into the pot and remove it from the pot. Fish is quite delicate, so be patient and gentle when handling.
• Use a narrower pot: To ensure the liquid fully submerges the fish, use a smaller (2 to 2.5 quart), narrower dutch oven, french oven, braiser, or cast-iron pan. If the fish isn't fully covered, use a spoon to frequently spoon the liquid over the top of the fish to help it cook faster.

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