Bolinhos de Bacalhau
The great Lusophone snack: flaked salt cod folded into a mash of potato, onion, parsley and egg, shaped into small oval croquettes and deep-fried.
Overview
Salt cod soaks for 24 hours with several water changes to draw out the salt. Once desalted, it's poached, flaked and folded into hot mashed potato with onion, parsley, egg and a pinch of pepper. The mix is shaped between two tablespoons into the classic oval (two-spoon quenelle shape) and deep-fried.
Ingredients
- 400 g salt cod (bacalhau)
- 600 g floury potatoes (peeled, cut into chunks)
- 1 onion (small, very finely chopped)
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley (finely chopped)
- 2 eggs (large, beaten)
- 1 garlic clove (crushed)
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 litre vegetable oil for deep frying
- 1 lemon (cut into wedges, to serve)
Method
Stage 1 - Desalt the cod
- Rinse the salt cod under cold water; place in a bowl; cover with cold water.
- Refrigerate 24 hours, changing the water 3-4 times. Taste a small piece on the second day - it should be salted but not overpowering.
- Drain.
Stage 2 - Poach and flake
- Place the cod in a pan; cover with fresh cold water; bring to just under a simmer.
- Cook 8 minutes - the cod should flake easily.
- Drain; cool slightly; remove skin and any bones; flake into small pieces.
Stage 3 - Potato
- While the cod cooks, boil the potatoes in salted water until tender (12-15 minutes).
- Drain; return to the dry pot; dry off over low heat 1 minute.
- Mash smooth - no lumps.
Stage 4 - Mix
- Combine the warm mash, flaked cod, onion, garlic, parsley, beaten eggs and pepper.
- Mix to a uniform, thick paste. Don't overwork - the fritters should be light.
- Taste; add a pinch of salt only if needed.
Stage 5 - Shape and fry
- Heat the oil to 170°C.
- With two tablespoons (warmed in hot water), scoop and quenelle the mixture into oval shapes. Drop straight into the oil.
- Fry in batches of 5-6, 3-4 minutes total, turning, until deep gold.
- Drain on kitchen paper.
Stage 6 - Serve
- Eat warm with lemon wedges and a cold beer (or vinho verde).
Notes
- Soak fully: 24 hours with water changes is the minimum. Skipping this gives inedibly salty fritters.
- Mash must be dry: Wet mash makes wet bolinhos that won't shape. Dry the potato in the pot before mashing.
- Two-spoon shape: A classic quenelle - oval, three-sided. A small ice cream scoop works for cleaner balls but isn't traditional.
Storage
- Best eaten same day. Re-crisp leftover bolinhos at 200°C for 5 minutes (microwave makes them sad).
- The uncooked mix keeps 24 hours refrigerated; shape and fry fresh.
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Pasteis de Bacalhau
These are the little salt-cod fritters you'd order at a marble counter in Lisbon, sitting with a glass of vinho verde while the bartender slides a plate across with no ceremony. The recipe itself is simple, dry mashed potato through flaked bacalhau with onion, garlic, parsley and egg, then a brief fry, but it does start the day before because the salt cod wants 24 to 36 hours of cold water soaks to draw the salt out. That step is the one thing you cannot shortcut. Once the cod is desalted, everything else is an afternoon's work: simmer the cod, flake it through warm potato, shape into the three-sided football "quenelles" that are the Portuguese signature, and fry until amber. Eat them warm with a wedge of lemon and a dish of piri-piri on the side.
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