When asked what kind of dish I recommend to make with shredded salted cod, salt cod and egg scramble – Bacalhau à Brás, is the first recipe that comes to mind. The happy “marriage” between the salt cod and olives, crisp fried potatoes and softness of the eggs, makes this an all time favourite, and it´s the ultimate comfort food. The recipe is said to originate from Bairro Alto, in Lisbon, where it was invented by a tavern owner called Brás. The recipe introduced here is from the Portuguese chef Vitor Sobral, who doublessly is one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, specialist of dried, salted cod in the world. The recipe below easily serves 5-6 people.
Serves 6
45 minutes
Easy
Ingredients
1 kg salted cod, shredded, Terra do Bacalhau
600 g of potatoes cut into small matchstick size
3 onions, thinly sliced
6 fresh eggs, beaten
1 garlic clove, chopped
4 dl olive oil, extra virign
Oil, to deep fry potatoes
Parsley, chopped, to taste
Black olives, to taste
salt, to taste
Black pepper, ground
How to:
- Soak the shredded cod according to instructions. If there are still chunks of cod you can use the fingers to shred the fish even more.
- In a skillet, add oil to deep fry potatoes on medium-high temperature. If the oil begin to smoke, lower the temperature. Add the potatoes. The temperature is right if the potatoes start to sizzle. Deep fry until golden. Place the potato onto paper towels to soak up any excess oil and put aside.
- Braise the garlic and onion in olive oil on medium-low heat while stirring occationally until they soften slightly. Stir in the codfish and cook for about 1 minute. Stir in the potatoes and remove from the heat. Add the beaten eggs, season with salt and pepper and return to the low-medium heat, always stirring. Right when the eggs start to turn into a creamy consistence, slightly cooked, remove from the heat and add chopped parsley and olives.
