Bolinho de Bacalhau Receita : CodFish Cakes

You may find several cod fish recipes, many may be found using the word bacalhau, Portguese for cod fish. However currently one of the most famous recipe that is constantly growing, is the famous bolinhos de bacalhau or codfish cakes or rolls. It's a delicious meal or appetizer, people who have tried it, become fascinated with it's distinct taste, it's not easy to find in most countries, but any Portuguese or Brazilian grocery outlet will have them, ask for bolinhos de bacalhau, or codfish cakes.

How to make ( bolinhos de bacalhau ) cod fish cakes at home:

First you'll need to stock up with the following ingredients, and from there on I will explain step by step how you can have ( bolinhos de bacalhau ) ready in a flash:

• 750 g of Codfish (one of the secrets to a good home made ( bolinho de bacalhau ) codfish cake, is using salted and dried cod fish, it will be necessary for you to soak it be cooking, see my post on soaking salted cod fish )
• 750 g of Potato
• 200 g of Onion
• 6 pieces of Garlic
• 4 Eggs
• Parsley
• Vegetable Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
  

Soak the salted and dried codfish accordingly, make sure it's edible. Peel the potatoes, cutting them into small bits and pieces. The onion, the parsley and the garlic, all ingredientes should be chopped into small bits. Cook the codfish in boiling water. Extract the skin and the bones from the cooked codfish. Wrap the cooked cod fish with a clean cloth and with slight hand pressure mash the codfish.
Boil the potatoes in water, which some salt to give it some flavour, after boiling grind them into mashed potatoes. Add the codfish and the other ingredients the garlic, parsley and the onion, mix everything with the 4 eggs, season the mixture with salt and pepper. Mix it well, the mixture should be even.
The rounded shape of the ( bolinhos de bacalhau ) codfish cakes are obtained by using two spoons to mold the small fish cakes before frying. Fry them in well heated vegetable oil, turning them so every side gets a golden colour. Let them rest on absorbent paper to extract the excess vegetable oil before serving.
Bon appetite.

How to cure salt cod

How to cure salt cod? Cod curing can be done in several ways, one of the most common is using salt. In this post I will explain how to cure cod, this information can be used in industrial environment or even at home, you just have to keep in mind some tips which I will share with you, and surely your results in curing cod will be satisfactory.
Why do we cure cod? This may be on your mind, well mainly for two reasons, to preserve the cod for a long period of time and second to add flavour. The salted and dried cod is a typical food from the Mediterranean cuisine, and believe it or not, the cod may have the same origin, but taste different due to the way cod is cured prior to being cooked.
So how do we cure cod? We start off buy splitting the cod, we give it a butterfly look, this makes it easier and guarantees a quality cure for the whole fish. The cod will have to be well cleaned from any gut residue or others before salting it, during the salting process if the cod is not perfectly clean, yellow and orange markings may appear. A good thing about salting fish is that when well salted your fish will be protected against most bacteria.
After having cleaned thoroughly your cod, you will then need to place it splitted in a salt based recipient, with the back side facing up. Make sure, that between every fish you have no direct contact, salt must be abundant, or your whole effort may be in jeopardy.
The next stage is a very important one, put the recipient in a fridge for a few days. The whole industry secrets are relevant at this point, being the time and the way it's done in the fridge the main distinction in this whole process. A proper cure can take up to 60 days, some say that cod is like old port wine, the more time in staging the better.
After a sufficient time in staging, the drying is essential, do not use heat to accelerate drying, it requires a like breeze and time. From this point on, you'll need to keep checking to see how humid it is, one easy way is to press the flesh, when it hardens it is salted and dried. So, by now you have all the information you may need on how to cure cod. Doing it at home or industrially, sea salt and cod are the main elements. Good luck.