Make sure you soak the salted cod for a good amount of time (at least 24 hours). I recommend cold water below but you could also use milk, which will remove some of the added saltiness. Be patient with the soaking if you don’t want the croquettes to taste overly satly. This is something you might like to make ahead of time, the day before a party.
Ingredients
- 400 g/14 oz bacalao (salt cod)
- 400 g/14 oz potatoes, peeled and cut into even-size chunks
- 450 ml/15 floz/1¾ cups milk
- 25 g/1 oz/2 tbsp butter, diced
- 1 bay leaf
- 8 peppercorns
- handful of chives, finely chopped
- handful of curly-leaf parsley, finely chopped, plus extra sprigs to
- garnish
- handful of coriander (cilantro) leaves, finely chopped
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 100 g/4 oz/¾ cup plain (all-purpose) flour, spread out on a plate
- 2 eggs, beaten in a shallow dish
- 100 g/4 oz/1 cup breadcrumbs, spread out on a plate
- groundnut (peanut) oil, for deep-frying
- salt and pepper
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve
REMOULADE SAUCE
- 100 g/4 oz/scant ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp finely sliced gherkins
- 1 tbsp finely chopped capers
- shallot, chopped
- 1 tbsp finely chopped chives
- 1 tbsp finely chopped curly-leaf parsley
- Worcestershire sauce
How to Make It
- Soak the bacalao (salt cod) for 24 hours in a large bowl of cold water, changing the water four times at regular intervals.
- Put the potatoes in a pan of lightly salted water, bring to the boil and cook for 15–20 minutes or until tender. Drain, let the potatoes dry in the steam and then mash them with 3 tablespoons of the milk and the butter.
- Pour the remaining milk into a pan, add the fish, bay leaf and peppercorns, and poach for 5–7 minutes or until the fish is cooked. Drain the fish from the pan,
- leave to cool and then discard the skin and any bones. Flake the fish and add to the mashed potato with the chives, parsley, coriander (cilantro) and paprika. Stir everything together until evenly combined and then chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Shape the potato mixture into croquettes with your hands. Coat in flour, brush with beaten egg and then roll in breadcrumbs until evenly coated.
- To make the remoulade sauce, stir together the mayonnaise, gherkins, capers, shallot, chives and parsley until evenly combined. Season with Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
- Heat groundnut (peanut) oil in a deep-fat fryer or tall, heavy-based saucepan to 180°C/350°F.
- Deep-fry the croquettes in batches for about 5 minutes until golden brown and then drain on kitchen paper (paper towels). When all the croquettes have been cooked, deep-fry sprigs of parsley for a few seconds until crisp. Drain well on kitchen paper.
- Serve the croquettes with the remoulade sauce, garnished with the fried parsley sprigs and lemon wedges.
