Bacaladillas fritas, recipe and secret of crispy fried codfish

Total: 20 min Diners: 4

If now in Spain we can’t physically travel, instead of lamenting we can turn the situation around and see it as an opportunity to learn how to prepare at home those typical dishes of our favorite destinations that drive us crazy whenever we go.

One of the best known delicacies of the Andalusian coastal towns is, without a doubt, pescaíto frito (fried fish), one of the star tapas recipes that has been able to conquer even the most refined palates. Chanquetes, anchovies, dogfish, puntillas and squid are usually some of the seafood chosen to prepare the recipe in the south.

It is true that some of them, such as dogfish, are not so easily found in the north, but the good thing about cooking is that many recipes can be adapted to the product you have at hand. Thanks to that there are, for example, chifa and nikkei cuisines -Chinese and Japanese cuisines adapted to the raw materials that can be found in Peru-.

That is why, on this occasion, the recipe is made with bacaladillas, also called lilies, a white fish very easy to find in the north and at a very good price, although we could also have made it with sardines, mackerel fillets, anchovies, squid, squid…. The way to fry them is the same, although if the chosen fish is an oily fish, it will be much better if once clean we submerge it for a few minutes in water with ice and a few drops of vinegar to release the blood and whiten the meat a little.

The secret? A quality fish -which does not have to be expensive-, chickpea flour, a good extra virgin olive oil and frying at the right temperature.

Once the frying is done, we can serve it with an aioli, with lime or lemon or with a tartar sauce.

How to make fried bacaladillas

libin jose iStockPhoto

Ingredients

. Cleaned cod fillets, 800 g Chickpea flour, quantity needed Salt Extra virgin olive oil, quantity needed for frying Limes, 2 Tartar sauce

Step 1

The most how will be to ask the fishmonger to clean the cod fillets and remove the bones without separating the loins.

Step 2

At home, we pass them under a stream of cold water to remove any blood that may have been left and dry them well with absorbent paper. It is not essential, but if we want it to be thinner we can trim the fins with kitchen scissors, although if you want to save the step, you can leave them as they are perfectly edible, when fried they are very crispy and are very rich in calcium.

Step 3

Salt the fillets to taste.

Step 4

Dredge our blue whiting fillets in the chickpea flour. Ideally this should be done with a sieve or colander to let the excess flour fall out, but if we don’t have one to hand it will be enough to lightly shake the fillets after flouring them.

Step 5

In a deep frying pan of small diameter – or in a saucepan if we don’t have such a pan – we heat plenty of extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. We will know the oil is at the right temperature to start frying when we sprinkle a little chickpea flour over the oil and it starts to bubble and sizzle. Oil at the correct temperature is key to ensure that the batter is not mushy or oily.

Fry in batches of a few to prevent the oil from losing temperature. When the fillets are golden brown, remove them and place them on a strainer or rack to release excess oil.

Step 6

Serve with a homemade tartar sauce and some lime slices.