How do you prepare bacalhau before cooking?
A specialty grocery store recently started to sell bacalhau (heavily salted cod fish). I am guessing that a recipe I have for baked codfish would work. Since it is so heavily salted, what should I do to prepare it for cooking?
Best Answer
Basically it depends on how much salt (not how little water) there is in the fish. Here in Galicia and northern Portugal we usually soak it for 12 hours or so, changing the water once or twice. That will yield a slightly salty and tangy fish. If you don't like the salty edge and prefer it blander, soak it for 18 hours or so.
Pictures about "How do you prepare bacalhau before cooking?"
How do you soak bacalhau?
Place in a bowl with skin side up and cover completely with cold water. Soak the Bacalao in the refrigerator for 8 hours with 2 to 3 changes of fresh cold water. After soaking the Bacalao for 2 hours in the refrigerator, drain the water from the bowl.How long does baccala need to soak?
Depending on how salty and intense of a flavor you desire, soak the fish for 2 to 3 days (24 to 48 hours). You can soak it as a whole filet or in large chunks, just be sure it is fully submerged with enough water to cover the fish. Note that the longer it soaks, the milder the flavor becomes.How do you rehydrate bacalhau?
Rinse in very cold water to remove the excess salt. Place into a large pan or bowl which is big enough to completely submerge cod. Place in refrigerator, or in a large tub filled with ice to keep the water cold. Day 2: Drain water, rinse and add very cold water to submerge cod.Do you have to soak bacalao?
Bacalao needs to be soaked in several changes of water to rehydrate the flesh and remove the salt, usually 36 to 48 hours. Thicker pieces may need longer soaking; thin pieces and scraps need less. (It's ok to taste uncooked cod to decide if it's sufficiently de-salted.)More answers regarding how do you prepare bacalhau before cooking?
Answer 2
This answer is useful in the case you do not have much time (12 hours, or even days) to let the cod fish soak in water (put water, wait, change water, repeat). There is a nice trick to prepare it in less time.
Boil it with vegetables. Just that: put the cod fish and vegetables in water and boil them. One particular good vegetable at absorbing the salt is cauliflower. Well, actually, don't do this right away with the super-salty cod fish, it is worth to just soak it a few times with warm water (no waiting needed).
The boiling time depends on your taste. The longer the less saltier. After boiling it, in case it was not for long long time (i.e., the vegetables still have nice consistency), you can actually eat the vegetables.
One great way to do this is by adding vegetables that would complete the dish, so it is two in one, e.g., cauliflower, potatoes, broccoli, chickpeas (garbanzo beans). Enjoy.
Image source: www.soguima.com
Answer 3
Depends on the dryness of it. Sometimes it's completely dessicated, which means you need to soak it for a couple of days, changing the water frequently.
Sometimes it's a bit moist and spongy, in which case you can shorten the soaking to about 24 hours, again changing the water frequently.
Or, you can just buy fresh cod.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Andrea Piacquadio, Karolina Grabowska, murat esibatir, Maarten van den Heuvel