COLOURFULWORLD

Sunday 30 December 2012

Pasteis de Bacalhau - Codfish Fritters

Pasteis de Bacalhau (Codfish Fritters) are traditionally made the whole year around, but are ideal to use up Codfish leftovers from the Christmas dinner.They are lovely as starters at a party, and I just made them today to take to the New Year's eve dinner tomorrow at the Portuguese club, as we have to take our own food for the night. They are easy to make and you could also use any white fish to make these and they would be ideal to feed children who don't like fish. They wouldn't have the same taste though.In Portugal you find them in every Coffee shop and can be bought to eat as a snack, and in restaurants they would be accompanied by Tomato rice or a green salad. Can be served hot or cold. 
Ingredients:300gr codfish (already desalted by soaking in water for 2 days, changing the water 2 or 3 times a day)300gr boiled potatoes2 or 3 eggs1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushedParsley, salt and pepperOil to fryBoil the codfish in water for about 15 or 20 min. if not using the Christmas leftovers. Remove skin and bones and put in a food processor until it is shredded. If doing by hand, make sure the pieces are quite small.Boil the potatoes in their skins. Drain them, peel and puree them. Add potatoes to the fish, add the chopped onion and crushed garlic and chopped parsley.Add the eggs, one a time and stir well and adjust the seasoning. The mixture should be stiff.Using 2 tablespoons, shape the mixture into oval shaped cakes. Fry in very hot oil until golden brown.Drain on absorbent paper, plate them and decorate with some parsley.Enjoy them!

Ready to eat!

Variations:You can fry the onion in a tablespoon of olive oil instead of adding it raw to the mixture.Instead of whole eggs, you can also add just the yolks and beat the whites until stiff, then add them.If you use a larger quantity of potatoes than fish, the fritters will be lighter. 
 PS: I used very large eggs and the mixture was slightly runny, so I had to add 2 or 3 tablespoons of flour
        to thicken it before frying.


5 comments:

  1. Aposto que estão deliciosos! :-) Tudo de bom em 2013.

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  2. Estavam muito bons, tive que os guardar senão amanhã já não há para levar.

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  3. I'm happy you posted this recipe. I read it to my husband, he's the fish chef at our house. We both think this would be delicious. We'll be trying it as soon as we can. We enjoy having a different way to cook fish.
    Thank you so much. You made my day.
    I hope you have a wonderful Happy New year! :)

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  4. Another delish recipe for me to try Sami, thanks, I'll let you know how they turn out. Here's wishing you and your family a very happy New Year.

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  5. Thanks EC and Grace.
    It´s easy and tasty.
    I have today been making another traditional recipe for "Prawn Rissoles" but this one takes a couple of hours and a lot of mess in the kitchen. Delicious though... Will post another time.
    Have a great New Year too!

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