Whether you poach Mahi-Mahi or your favorite fish, this cooking technique will be one you'll rely on time and time again. It's easy to modify and always produces a moist and flavorful fish.
Poaching Mahi-Mahi is a delicious and easy way to serve this fish, and the technique also works well with other varieties of fish. It’s a great way to prepare Tuna, Swordfish, Salmon and many other types of fish.
Poaching fish is easier than you think and a wonderful way to not only cook fish quickly but also helping to keep it moist and flavorful. Now here’s the best part, you cook dinner in one pan! Traditionally a Court-Bouillon was used to poach fish, but don’t get worried it sounds fancier than it is.
If you want a richer broth, you can, of course, let it simmer for a few hours my dish came out pretty well for using this shortcut method. You can also add some of your favorite fresh herbs to this broth, enhancing the flavors to create your own signature dish.
It’s really that easy, and when you think of it the court-bouillon is basically just a mirepoix (cut up celery, onions and carrots, used in many dishes as well as soups). See now you’ve learned more French terms to make bantering around the kitchen even more fun….you’re almost ready for the tall white hat.
To make a court-bouillon you need just a few items; celery, carrots, onions, and an acidic ingredient along with other liquids. You can use citrus (lime or lemon), wine, or vinegar. Or a combination of any of the ingredients, I used lemon and white wine. I also added a few garlic cloves, and used a vegetable stock instead of just plain water, kicking up the flavor profile even more. 
As the court-bouillon reduces, you can enhance the flavors by adding cream, butter or other fresh herbs….. It’s your kitchen, have fun experimenting!
If you’ve tried my Mahi-Mahi recipe or any other recipe on askchefdennis.com please don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know where you found it in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on Instagram @chefdenniseats and @chefdennistravels, Twitter and Facebook
Whether you poach Mahi-Mahi or your favorite fish, this cooking technique will be one you'll rely on time and time again. It's easy to modify and always produces a moist and flavorful fish.
- 1 stalk celery rough cut
- 1 carrot rough cut
- 1/2 onion rough cut
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 ounce mahi-mahi 2 fillets
- 4 jumbo shrimp shell on
- sea salt and black pepper
- 1 1/2 cup vegetable stock
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/2 lemon juice only
- 1 lemon zest only
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 cup grape tomatoe s cut half long way
- 1 tablespoon butter
- rinse then pat dry the mahi filets with paper towels
- season the filets with sea salt and black pepper
- in a large heated skillet add the olive oil (medium high heat)
- add the mahi-mahi fillets, garlic and veggies
- after 1 minute in the hot skillet, gently turn the fillets over and continue cooking for another minute
- remove the mahi from the skillet and set aside
- add stock and wine to the skillet, bring to a boil and reduce by half
- reduce the heat to medium and return mahi to pan along with shrimp, spinach and tomatoes, this shouldn't take more than 3-4 minutes to finish cooking but you can test the mahi by inserting a very sharp knife into the thickest part to make sure its done
- remove fish and shrimp and plate over rice
- add butter to pan and mix well until melted
- serve spinach mixture with mahi over rice.
- You can peel the shrimp if you like before serving or simply have your guests peel them with the dinner.
Thomas says
Hi Chef, thanks for the awesome recipe! We have included it in our roundup of the top 50 Mahi-Mahi recipes in the world!
Terri says
I made this and it was great! Thank you! I wasn’t sure when to add the lemon juice… I didn’t see it mentioned in the actual recipe. But I threw it in there at some point and it turned out fine. Just thought you might want to add it in for us novices. So I know if it matters when or not. Thanks again. 🙂
Chef Dennis Littley says
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe and thank you for the heads up, I added the lemon juice in with the stock and wine addition!
Kim Bultman | a little lunch says
Dennis, I had to put off my birthday dinner by a day (the joys of moving, lol!) and had planned to do an Asian marinated salmon, but the sublime simplicity of your poached fish is making me lean towards that. Sometimes simpler is better… and more flavorful! Thank you.
Diana @DandelionGreensBlog says
I was just wondering about poaching salmon. So glad I found your post today!
Chef Dennis Littley says
This would work wonderfully with salmon Diana
minnie@thelady8home says
Beautiful looking Mahi Mahi Chef. Interestingly, this is exactly how we cook ‘jhol’ is Bengal, India. Fish being our staple diet, poaching them is the way to go, though the flavors and spices used are very different. This looks delicious.