Iberia · Volume 10, Bacalhau and the Long Way Home
Bacalhau à Brás
Nationwide, most associated with Lisbon
An illustration of the dish, not a photograph of it cooked.
- Time
- 40 minutes
- Researched
- 2 sources cited
- Reviewed
- Not yet reviewed from inside the tradition
- Cooked
- Not yet cooked and reported
As tradition built it
Serves 4. About 40 minutes, plus soaking.
Ingredients
- 500 g dried salt cod, soaked and desalted (see Rung 1)
- 600 g potatoes, cut into thin matchsticks
- 2 onions, thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- 6 eggs, beaten
- to taste olive oil
- to taste black olives and parsley, to finish
- to taste salt and pepper
Method
- Poach the desalted cod gently in water or oil, well below a simmer, until just cooked, then flake it by hand, discarding skin and bone.
- Fry the matchstick potatoes until golden and just crisp; drain and set aside.
- Soften the onion and garlic in olive oil over low heat until translucent, not coloured.
- Add the flaked cod to the pan and warm through gently.
- Add the fried potatoes, then pour in the beaten eggs and stir over low heat until just set, still soft and slightly loose, never fully scrambled dry.
- Season with salt and pepper, and finish with black olives and chopped parsley.
What a modern chef changes
The cod's own rehydration and cooking, given the discipline the fish actually needs
Rung 1
Method
- Soak the cod in cold water in the fridge for a full 48 hours, changing the water four times, rather than rushing it under a tap, judging readiness by taste rather than the clock.
- Poach the cod in olive oil rather than water, holding the oil well below simmering point with a probe thermometer, protecting the fish's own fat and gelatine rather than boiling it out.
- Fry the potato matchsticks in a dedicated deep fryer or a controlled sous vide assisted double fry, for a more consistent crispness than a home hob usually manages across a full batch.