Cocochas or Kokotxas of cod in green sauce

How to prepare some cod cocochas .

Perhaps one of the noblest and most valued parts of many fish are the cocochas or kokotxas as they say in Basque.

It is the meat of the fish that is in the area that is below the lower jaw, towards the part of the belly.

They are small portions of especially delicate and tasty meat that, especially in the case of cod cocochas , have especially gelatinous skin.

Among the traditional ways of preparing them, cocochas in green sauce stand out .

I am not very clear about the origin of this recipe but I do know that it is in the Basque Country where it forms part of its most typical gastronomic repertoire.

It is a category dish for various reasons, the first because of its quality and its indisputable flavor, and the second because it is not cheap at all.

The market price of these small bites is around 25 euros, so as you can see it is a luxury item, surely not suitable for all occasions.

Even so, if you have to cook and what you want is to go to the movies and prepare a dinner or a level meal for your guests, some cocochas bathed in green sauce will leave your people delighted.

As an option we can prepare them without the batter by cooking them in the sauce itself if its previous frying.

In this case, I recommend not removing the skin since this will be responsible for thickening the sauce thanks to the gelatin it produces.

Before cooking the cod cocochas in green sauce

1. The first thing we do to prepare this dish is to desalt the cocochas if they are in brine. It will take 2 days to soak with 4 or 5 changes of water, to remove excess salt.
2. In the event that we are using fresh cod cocochas or any other fish, this step would not be necessary.
3. We remove the skin of the cocochas, we pass a water and dry them with kitchen paper.
4. This step of removing the skin would be optional but, in my opinion, the result is much better if we prepare them clean. Especially due to the fact that they will be battered.
5. In a small frying pan, heat plenty of oil to fry the fish.
6. While the oil is heating, coat the cocochas in flour and then pass them through beaten egg.

Frying the cod cocochas and final presentation

1. We fry each of the cocochas for 2 minutes on each side. We remove to a tray with absorbent paper to remove excess oil. We reserve.
2. In a wide saucepan, heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil. When it starts to be hot, add the very chopped garlic and the chilli.
3. We cook at low temperature with the intention that the garlic is confit, not fried or roasted. This process will take us a few minutes, depending on the type of cuisine.
4. It is important not to take your eyes off of it to prevent the garlic from passing and burning. When we see that it begins to take color it would be ready.
5. We add the glass of wine to the casserole and let it cook for a few minutes to evaporate the alcohol.
6. We wash and chop the bunch of parsley and add it to the casserole.
7. Add the water or broth and cook for 5 minutes.
8. If what you want is a thicker sauce, add a teaspoon of flour to the casserole and stir well so that it is diluted.
9. We incorporate the fried cocochas that we have reserved. Let them cook for 10 minutes.

We serve the hot well accompanied with the garnish that we most like. Some fried potatoes, rice, of all forms we will have a dish of yummy.

Be sure to enjoy all the recipes for fish and seafood that we have on the blog.

You can see all the step by step photos of the recipe for battered cocochas in green sauce in this album. Do not miss any detail and you will get some yummy cocochas.