Adventures in sous-vide: initiation complete!

So after a mildly successful bash at a piece of salmon, my hopes were oh so high for a big piece of  rump skirts that was to be marinated, sous-vided and seared as per my Momofuku cookbook.  [No, me neither! Many a slog up the hill to Butcher John with instructions to ask for a pound of skirts when I was a kid in Lancashire, but never heard of rump skirts -- I expect they're just southern skirts, hence the price hike].

Anyway - lump of meat was duly marinated for 24 hours in apple juice, soy sauce, onion, garlic and sesame oil - then carefully dried off in the hopes the vacuum seal would work this time. And admittedly it did suck out most of the air - but again, a drop of juice crept in and it decided to just seal.  Not sure that makes any difference really though anyway - the bag still sinks under water, and it's still sealed - so I expect that's the main thing!

Following David Chang's instructions, for who am I to demur - I left it in the machine for 45 minutes at 51C - which turned out to be the perfect interval to eat a little starter I knocked up - also from the Momofuku book - of grilled octopus salad with konbu, bamboo shoots and chilli.

And so to the results -- above, old-fashioned braise and chargrilling of octopus - and below, the "rump skirt steak" sous-vided then seared in a hot pan!

Octopus excellent - full of flavour and chewy in just the right way (though I did miss the octopus and nearly chew right through my tongue instead, leaving a big lump on the end of my tongue, and a corresponding lisp, but that's neither here nor there ... ).

Skirt steak - well, on the positive side, it was really very soft and tender.  But on the downside, it did also feel a bit like I imagine chewing a cushion might be. Something not quite right about the way it feels against the teeth ...

Of course now I have to go and buy another piece of the same steak so I can cook it from scratch in a pan, and see how different it tastes and feels. Maybe it's the skirt, not the cook!

But before I do that, more sous-vide capers already! A friend's coming for tea on Wednesday, so I've just put his belly pork in the bath. With luck, it'll be just about ready in time. Wish me luck (though I've got 2 pork chops also at the ready, "just in case!")