Name: Court-bouillon de poisson créole
Prep time: 22 min
Cook time: 22 min
Total time: 74 min
Yield: 4 main-course portions
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 800 g bonito fillet, commercially sourced, skinless, boneless, cut into 4 cm pieces; 60 ml fresh lime juice, chilled; 15 g garlic, finely crushed; 6 g fine salt; 2 g black pepper, freshly ground; 30 g roucou-infused vegetable oil; 150 g yellow onion, thinly sliced; 100 g cives or scallion greens, thinly sliced; 400 g ripe tomatoes, diced; 20 g tomato paste; 60 g piment végétarien, seeded and sliced; 3 g fresh thyme; 2 bay leaves; 150 ml water

Court-bouillon de poisson créole — shown in a pan

Prep 22 minutes

Cook 22 minutes

Total 74 minutes

Yield 4 main-course portions

Ingredients ↓

Introduction and overview

Court-bouillon de poisson créole — Martinican fish in tomato, cives and roucou

In Martinique, court-bouillon de poisson describes a seasoned fish dish with a vivid aromatic sauce, not the pale metropolitan French poaching liquid that shares the name. Lime, cives, thyme, tomato and roucou create the Antillean profile, while a mild piment végétarien contributes aroma without turning the sauce into a generic hot chilli stew.

Bonito gives a firm, commercially obtainable fish for this household preparation. It is cut into 4 cm pieces and marinated under refrigeration with lime, garlic, salt and pepper for 30 minutes. The raw marinade is not poured casually over cooked fish: it is added to the sauce and boiled for a full five minutes before the fish goes into the pan.

Ciguatera requires a separate safety decision from ordinary cooking. Heat, freezing, marinating and pickling do not destroy ciguatoxin, so the fish must come from a traceable commercial supplier and species or sizes flagged locally as higher-risk reef fish should be avoided. Once an appropriate fish has been obtained, the ordinary cooking endpoint still matters: the thickest pieces must reach 63 °C.

Success points

Keep the marinade refrigerated.
Fully boil any raw marinade before it becomes part of the sauce.
Cook bonito gently to 63 °C and stop before the pieces fragment.

Ingredients

Fish and marinade

800 g bonito fillet, commercially sourced, skinless, boneless, cut into 4 cm pieces
60 ml fresh lime juice, chilled
15 g garlic, finely crushed
6 g fine salt
2 g black pepper, freshly ground

Sauce

30 g roucou-infused vegetable oil
150 g yellow onion, thinly sliced
100 g cives or scallion greens, thinly sliced
400 g ripe tomatoes, diced
20 g tomato paste
60 g piment végétarien, seeded and sliced
3 g fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
150 ml water

Method

Cold marinade

Marinate the fish under refrigeration. Combine the 800 g bonito with lime juice, garlic, 6 g salt and black pepper in a non-reactive container; cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Tool or vessel: covered non-reactive container. Heat: none. Temperature: ≤4 °C. Readiness: The fish is evenly coated with lime and aromatics and remains thoroughly chilled. Why it matters: The short marinade seasons the fish without extended acid exposure. Safety: Marinating does not neutralize ciguatoxin; keep fish at 4 °C or below.

Sauce and fish

Soften the Antillean aromatics. Heat the roucou oil and soften the onion, cives and piment végétarien for 5 minutes without dark browning. Tool or vessel: wide lidded sauté pan. Heat: medium. Temperature: about 95–110 °C pan surface. Readiness: The onion is translucent and the aromatics are fragrant without scorching. Why it matters: Gentle softening builds the aromatic base.
Build the tomato-roucou sauce. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, bay leaves and 150 ml water; bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 7 minutes. Tool or vessel: same pan. Heat: medium-low simmer. Temperature: about 95–98 °C sauce. Readiness: The tomatoes have broken down and the sauce lightly coats the spoon while remaining loose enough to poach the fish. Why it matters: A short simmer develops the sauce before the fish enters.
Cook the raw marinade. Pour the raw fish marinade into the sauce and boil it for 5 minutes before adding the fish. Tool or vessel: same pan. Heat: active boil. Temperature: about 100 °C. Readiness: The marinade has boiled continuously for 5 minutes and is fully incorporated into the sauce. Why it matters: Raw marinade is made safe only by thorough cooking before it contacts cooked food. Safety: Never reuse raw-fish marinade uncooked.
Simmer the bonito gently. Lower the heat, add the bonito in one layer, cover loosely and cook for 5 minutes, turning once only if needed; check the thickest pieces with a clean thermometer and continue just until they reach 63 °C. Tool or vessel: same pan + food thermometer. Heat: low simmer. Temperature: 63 °C internal fish temperature. Readiness: The thickest fish pieces register 63 °C, are opaque through the centre and remain intact rather than breaking into flakes. Why it matters: Brief gentle cooking protects the firm fish from drying out. Safety: Cook to 63 °C; do not use colour alone as the safety test.

Serving and practical guidance

Practical

Substitutions

- Bonito: Another commercially sourced firm-fleshed marine fish with a low ciguatera concern for the market may be used at the same edible weight. Piece thickness may change the time, but the 63 °C endpoint remains mandatory.

Troubleshooting

Problem 1Check the cause and correction. If the fish breaks up, the sauce boiled too strongly or the pieces were repeatedly moved; use a low simmer and minimal handling.
Problem 2Check the cause and correction. If the sauce tastes raw, the tomato base was not simmered before the fish; give it the full 7-minute pre-simmer.

Nutrition per serving

Serving size1/4 of the fish and sauce
Calories345 kcal
Carbohydrate13.9 g
Protein51.3 g
Fat8.9 g
Fibre3.3 g
Sodium695 mg

Allergens and food safety

Allergen: Fish.

Safety: Buy fish from a traceable commercial supplier and keep it at 4 °C or below.

Safety: Ciguatoxin is not destroyed by cooking, freezing, marinating or pickling; avoid fish species or sizes flagged locally as higher risk and do not use heads, viscera or roe as a safety workaround.

Safety: Boil raw marinade for 5 minutes before it is incorporated into the served sauce.

Safety: Cook fish to 63 °C.

Closing

Result: A Martinican court-bouillon of lime-marinated bonito simmered in a tomato, cive, thyme and roucou sauce, with explicit cold-chain and ciguatera safeguards.
Decisive technique: Keep the marinade refrigerated.