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Gently rub fine sea salt and ground white pepper evenly over the fish and let marinate for 40 minutes.
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In a blender, add extra virgin
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, kaffir/makrut lime leaves, scallions, cilantro, green jalapenos, lemongrass, shallot, ginger, lime zest and sea salt. Blend until smoothly pureed. Transfer the mixture into a large cheese-cloth that is set over a large bowl, then gather the cloth around the top and squeeze out the liquid into the large bowl with your hand. Once all the liquid/green oil is extracted, discard the solid.
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After marinating, if any liquid was emitted from the fish, drain and discard. Transfer each fillet into a heavy-duty zip-lock bag, and equally divide the herby extra virgin olive oil into each bag. Zip the bag until a small gap remains, and gently press/squeeze out as much air inside the bag through this gap as you can, then seal the bag completely. Let the fish sit in the fridge for at least two hours, or as early as the night before.
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Insert a thermometer into a large pot of water (DO NOT use pots like cast-iron that retains too much heat), then set over high heat to bring the water to 130 F/55 C. Gently place the fish inside the bag into the warm water. Only the fish has to be fully submerged, not the entire bag. Once the temperature comes back to 130 F/55 C, lower the heat down to the LOWEST possible setting. Set the timer for 45 minutes.
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Come back every 5~10 minutes or so to gentle dangle the bags to encourage water circulation, and also to check on the temperature. My experience is that a large pot of water should be able to retain at a constant 130 F/55 Cover the lowest flame. But if you notice that your water is over-heating, especially near the end of the cooking process, simply add some iced water to bring it down. After 45 minutes, remove the bags from the water. Drain the liquid/oil from the bag into a measuring cup, leaving the fish inside the bag to stay moist.
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In a small blender, food processor or with an immersion blender, blend yolk, garlic and lime juice until smooth. Slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup of the herby olive oil in until an emulsion forms (if some liquid on the bottom of the measuring cup is seeping through, don't worry about it). You should have something like a loose mayonnaise. Season with sea salt and a small pinch of sugar. Set aside.
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Whether your fish is skin-on or skinless, l like to crisp up at least 1 side of the fish before serving. In a non-stick skillet, add more extra virgin
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to generously coat the bottom. Cook the fish with the skin-side down over medium heat, tilting and repositioning the fish so all corners are taken care of, until the skin is crispy and browned. Serve the fish with a generous pouring of green aioli, more extra virgin
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if in doubt, and serve immediately with a few turns of black pepper.
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This recipe created by
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is in partnership with
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.
