Learn how to make it here!
Seriously, three days of effort went into this. Mostly it’s because I have a day job and I wanted to do a really thorough preparation. I just couldn’t fit all the steps into one evening. Nonetheless, all told, I think I spend about 6 hours actively preparing the various parts that go into this. Which brings me to my next question…HOW ON EARTH DID KUROKIBA MAKE THIS DURING ONE SHOKUGEKI?!?!?
Seriously, is there a time limit on each Shokugeki? How much can chefs bring pre-prepared? How much do they have to prepare on site? I really want to know, because each individual part takes time and care to craft well. I mean, the brioche crust, in and of itself, takes at least two days of effort, as you have to let it rest overnight to develop really good flavors.
Let’s say you want to make this at home (a fabulous idea, especially for the upcoming holidays), how long will it really take you if you have no day-time commitments? Honestly, at least two days as the brioche dough needs to sit overnight. You can prepare the dough the first day, and assemble the rest of the components the next day. You can do some things ahead of time, and somethings the day of assembly. I’ve included a schedule below depending on how much time you have- what you should complete each day. The good news is that many of the components of this dish keep well overnight, so you don’t have to worry about the timeliness of your cooking, beyond making sure your fish doesn’t go bad.
Is it worth the time and effort? Yes! It’s tasty, impressive, and has wonderfully refined seasoning throughout, which heightens the impact of the dish. This is not something you will EVER find in a restaurant, at least not in America (or not in the restaurants I’ve been in) so if you want to try this, you’ll have to make it yourself. There are a lot of components, but each part isn’t terribly difficult to put together. You just have to take your time and be patient.
Also, let me say that coulibiac originates from Russia, as a kind of pirozhki (HELLO, KATSU PIROZHKI FROM YURI!!! ON ICE, I’M LOOKING AT YOU). This version of the dish made its way to France, where it was further altered and embellished, resulting in the recipe below. So, technically, this dish is a cousin of the Katsu Pirozhki, which is kind of cool.
With that said, I really hope you can try this! This will impress your friends and family for the holidays, and you’ll get to try a delicious fillet of salmon in a way that is (hopefully) new and amazing. To start making your own, watch the video below for more instructions!
Ingredients for the Salmon Coulibiac:
*A note on the crepe ingredients. Half the below recipe, unless you want leftovers. You only need about 3 crepes for the final product- the below recipe yields about 12.*
Salmon
1 1/2 pounds of salmon fillet
1 egg
2 tbsp water
Rice-Kasha Filling
1/2 cup basmati rice
1/2 cup kasha
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 shallot, minced
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 star anise
4 cardamom pods
4 oz mushrooms, finely diced
salt and pepper
3 3/4 cups fish stock
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp butter
Dill-Lemon Sauce
1 cup sour cream
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
Handful of dill, minced
Brioche Dough
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup flour
3 eggs, scrambled
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour
6 oz softened butter, cubed
Crepe Seasoning
2 tbsp bacon bits
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp powdered garlic
1/2 tsp salt
Spinach Crepes*
4 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 tsp sugar
2 cups uncooked spinach
1 tbsp butter, for the pan
To Make the Salmon Coulibiac
To make in two days, prepare and assemble in the following way:
-Make brioche dough (Day 1)
-Make rice/ kasha filling (Day 1)
-Make crepe seasoning (Day 2)
-Make crepes (Day 2)
-Assemble and bake (Day 2)
-Make sauce
To make in three days, prepare and assemble in the following way:
-Make rice/ kasha filling (Day 1)
-Make sauce (Day 1)
-Make brioche dough (Day 2)
-Make crepe seasoning (Day 2)
-Make crepes (Day 2)
-Assemble and bake (Day 3)
Making the brioche:
1. Dissolve the sugar and yeast in the warm water. Allow to sit, about 10 minutes, or until yeast has activated.
2. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer and stir through with 1/2 cup flour. Rest for about 30 minutes.
3. Affix bowl to stand mixer with dough hook attached, and add in beaten eggs. Stir until thoroughly combined.
4. Add in remaining flour, 1 cup at a time. Stir until thoroughly combined.
5. Add in butter, one cube at a time, allow dough hook to incorporate until each piece of butter is worked into the dough. Once all butter has been added, allow the dough hook to do its work for another 5 minutes or so, until dough is soft, pliable, and smooth.
6. Detach bowl, and cover with a tea towel. Set somewhere warm for 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size. Cover with plastic wrap, and then set in fridge overnight to let flavors develop. Can keep in fridge for up to 3 days.
Making the rice filling:
1. Toast kasha in a pan over medium-high heat, about 3 minutes or until fragrant. Set aside. Dice onion and mushrooms, mince shallot, set out all other ingredients for the rice kasha filling.
2. In same pan, melt butter over medium high heat. Add in onion, star anise, cardamom, cumin seeds and corriander seeds. Allow onion to become transluscent, about 5 minutes.
3. Add in mushroom, allow to soften 1-2 minutes, and then clear a space in the middle. Pour uncooked basmati rice into the space, and toast 1-2 minutes, before mixing through with the contents of the pan. Add in the fish stock and bay leaf, and bring to a boil. Then, add in toasted kasha, bring back to a boil, and finally cover with a lid and lower heat to low. Allow to steam about 12 minutes or until the grains have absorbed all the liquid.
Making the Sauce:
1. Combine sauce ingredients together and stir. Set aside for later use.
Making the crepe seasoning:
1. Put bacon bits into a mortar or a food processor. Pound/ process until you have small, powdery bits.
2. Add in the thyme, oregano, garlic powder, and salt. Pound/ process until all ingredients have evenly dispersed. Set aside for later use.
Making the crepes:
1. Put all ingredients for crepes, except for the spinach, in the bowl of a food processor. Blend until well combined.
2. Then, add in the spinach and blend thoroughly until leaves are pulverized and batter is smooth.
3. Let rest about 15 minutes until further use.
4. Heat pan on high heat, and add in butter. Coat the bottom of the pan evenly. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into the bottom of the hot pan, and rotate around the pan until it covers the bottom evenly.
5. Sprinkle generous amounts of the crepe seasoning over the top of the crepe. After about two minutes, loosen the edges of the crepe and flip.
6. Allow the other side of the crepe to cook, about 1 minute, before transferring to a plate. Cook all crepes, and set aside for later use.
To Assemble:
1. Take dough out of fridge and roll out on a floured surface until about 1/4 inch thick, or until big enough to wrap entirely around salmon filets. Cut down to size, reserving dough scraps.
2. Layer crepes, seasoning side up, on the dough. Then, lay rice kasha filling out in an even layer, leaving about three inches on each side bare of rice filling.
3. Place fillets on top of the rice, seasoned well.
4. Place rice evenly over the top of the salmon.
5. Wrap the coulibiac up, using dough offcuts to help pinch the dough together, if necessary.
6. Make three parallel lines down the length of the coulibiac taking care not to cut through the dough entirely, and, still being careful not to cut all the way through, make a chevron pattern between the lines.
7. Using the dough offcuts, make two circles for the top of the coulibiac, as it appears in the anime. Set somewhere warm to rise for thirty minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 375 F. Whisk egg and water together to make an egg wash.
9. Once risen, brush egg wash over the top of the coulibiac. Then, bake for 30 minutes, or until cooked through.
10. Rest for 10 minutes before cutting open.
11. Cut into slices, and garnish with the sauce. Enjoy!
I hope you enjoyed this post! Check in next week for another recipe. To check out more anime food recipes, visit my blog. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below! I recently got a Twitter, so you can follow me at @yumpenguinsnack if you would like, and DEFINITELY feel free to send me food requests! My Tumblr is yumpenguinsnacks.tumblr.com. Find me on Youtube for more video tutorials! Enjoy the food, and if you decide to recreate this dish, show me pics! 😀