Bolinho de Bacalhau

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large bowl for soaking the cod
• •Heavy 3-liter pot for simmering and frying
• •Potato masher or fork
• •Small pan for the refogado
• •Two tablespoons for shaping
• •Slotted spoon
• •Cooling rack or paper towels
• •Kitchen thermometer, optional but useful

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the cod

   Put the salt cod in a bowl, cover with cold water by at least 2 inches, and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours, changing the water 3 or 4 times. Taste a tiny cooked flake if you're unsure. It should taste seasoned, not like the sea slapped you. This soaking is not fussiness. It pulls out excess salt so the fish can taste like fish again.

   Honest shortcut: you can buy already desalted bacalhau. It costs more and you still need to taste it, because some pieces are still too salty. What you cannot replace with dignity is real cod flavor from a powder or packet. No.
2. 2

   Cook and flake

   Put the soaked cod in a pot, cover with fresh water, and bring it just to a gentle simmer. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, until the fish flakes when pressed with a fork. Don't boil it hard. Hard boiling tightens the fish and makes it dry, and then you'll think bolinho is difficult when the pot was just rude. Drain, cool, remove skin and bones, and flake finely.

3. 3

   Dry the potatoes

   Boil the potatoes in unsalted water until a fork slides through easily, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain well, return them to the hot empty pot for 1 minute, and shake the pot so the edges look dry and floury. Mash until smooth. Wet potato makes loose dough that falls apart in the oil, so let the extra water leave now instead of fighting it later.

4. 4

   Build the refogado

   Warm the olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and see-through, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute, just until you smell it. This little refogado is where the bolinho stops tasting flat. Burnt garlic is bitter and follows you into every bite, so don't wander off.

5. 5

   Mix the dough

   In a large bowl, mix the mashed potato, flaked cod, refogado, parsley, black pepper, and nutmeg if using. Add the beaten eggs a little at a time and stir until the mixture holds together when pressed in your palm. Taste before adding salt. Bacalhau brings its own salt, and a gente is cooking, not salting by superstition.

6. 6

   Chill and shape

   Chill the mixture for 20 minutes if it feels soft. Shape with two tablespoons, passing the dough back and forth until you get small oval bolinhos, or roll them with lightly oiled hands. They should look compact, not perfect. Chilling firms the potato and egg so the bolinhos keep their shape when they hit the oil.

7. 7

   Fry in batches

   Heat the oil in a heavy pot to 350°F. If you don't have a thermometer, drop in a tiny bit of dough: it should bubble right away and rise calmly, not sink sadly or brown in seconds. Fry 5 or 6 bolinhos at a time until deep golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. Crowd the pot and the oil temperature drops, the crust drinks oil, and dinner gets heavy for no good reason.

8. 8

   Drain and serve

   Lift the bolinhos out with a slotted spoon and drain on a rack or paper towels. Sprinkle with a little salt only if they need it, then serve with lime wedges. Eat one while it's still crisp and the inside is soft. That's not stealing. That's quality control.

Chef Tips

• •Start with thick pieces of salt cod if you can. Thin scraps desalt fast but can turn stringy. They'll work, because a Tuesday is a Tuesday, but the texture won't be as tender.
• •Use starchy potatoes, not waxy ones. You want a dry mash that binds the fish, not a slippery mash that asks for flour and then tastes like glue.
• •If the mixture feels too loose, chill it first. If it's still impossible, add 1 tablespoon of fine breadcrumbs at a time. That's a repair, not the plan. The real fix is dry potato and well-drained fish.
• •Do not add seasoning cubes or powdered fish flavor. Bacalhau, onion, garlic, parsley, and good frying do the work. Anything else is the industry whispering that you can't cook.
• •Serve these with arroz, feijão, and couve when you want to turn snacks into a meal. The pê-efe bends beautifully. It doesn't need to become fancy to feel like a celebration.

Advance Preparation

• •Salt cod must soak 24 to 48 hours in the refrigerator, with several water changes. Thicker pieces need the longer time.
• •The bolinho mixture can be made up to 1 day ahead and kept covered in the fridge.
• •Shaped raw bolinhos can be frozen on a tray, then bagged for up to 2 months. Fry from frozen at 350°F, adding 1 to 2 minutes.
• •Fried bolinhos are best fresh, but leftovers reheat well in a 375°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes until the crust returns.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 55g)