Golden Cod or Bacalhau à Brás

How to prepare golden cod a la portuguesa .

This recipe for typical Portuguese fish , golden cod  or  bacalhau  à  brás , is the one you like the most at home because of its simplicity and because it is delicious.

The main ingredient and great protagonist of the dish is, obviously, cod.  Always desalted (not fresh), accompanied by scrambled eggs and potatoes that are cut very finely (straw potatoes) and sometimes with black olives and parsley.

The name of  Bacalhau Dourado or Dorado  comes from the intense yellow color that the egg and the fried potato provide. It is a dish of use and leftovers.

The best way to prepare it is to buy the salted cod crumbs, which are usually the cutouts of larger pieces of cod.

Give your personal touch, I assure you that whoever tastes this type of cod repeats and becomes one of their favorite dishes. I hope you like it and you dare with today’s recipe.

How to Desalt Cod Crumbs

1. In this recipe we can use the crumbs, cuttings of the cod or thicker pieces of cod.
2. Depending on the type it is, it will take more or less time to desalt it.
3. To desalt the cod, the fish have to be covered in plenty of water.
4. Large pieces will desalt for 48 hours, with water change approximately every 6 hours.
5. The finer parts will desalinate for 36 hours, with a water change every 8 hours. The remains and the crumbled cod are usually desalted first under the cold water tap for 10 minutes.
6. Then we leave them to soak for 3 hours with a change of water after 1 hour and a half, that is enough. While the fish is desalting it should remain cold, in the fridge.

Preparation of the golden cod

1. We will crumble the cod crumbs a little more, it is best that we have small pieces.
2. Crumbs usually come in thick portions. We put the pieces of cod in boiling water for 2 minutes at the maximum temperature.
3. Drain and reserve in a bowl for the end of the recipe.
4. We must see if any thorn has remained in the cod. It is very easy, with our fingers we touch the bowl and remove if there is any.
5. Chop the onion very finely and sauté it in a little bit of extra virgin olive oil in a large frying pan.
6. When it is ready we add the cod crumbs that we have reserved and sauté everything for about 2 minutes.
7. We try salt in case we have gone through the desalination.
8. We remove from the pan since we are going to use it to make the potatoes. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and reserve.

Preparation of potatoes

1. We peel the potatoes, wash and dry. We will grate them with a mandolin, this utensil usually brings several types of potato cut, the straw type is the finest.
2. If you do not have this tool, with patience we cut with a good knife into elongated and very finite pieces, as much as you can.
3. We put the potatoes in cold water and wash several times so that they release as much starch as possible and do not stick or darken too much when frying.
4. We dry with a cotton cloth before frying so that the oil does not skip.
5. Fry in abundant extra virgin olive oil until golden and crisp.
6. The process is fast because they are very thin. We remove to a plate with absorbent paper.

Final presentation of the golden cod

1. We remove the oil from the pan and leave a little bit just so that the scramble does not stick to us. Add the cod and onion sauce, the straw potatoes and the beaten egg.
2. Now it is time to stir, with medium heat and two wooden spoons, gently for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is set. Not much, that we have juicy, we should not overdo it and the potatoes should be a little crispy.
3. Chop the parsley and chop the olives (you can add them whole if you want) for the final decoration of the dish.
4. We arrange the scrambled on the source or large plate in which we are going to serve it.

Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and the olives. Freshly made and eat.

Here you have a step by step in photos where I show how to prepare this recipe for golden cod . Do not miss any detail so that they come out of you delicious.

Tips for a golden fluffy cod

• I have seen several types of preparation of this same dish, some add garlic to the sauce. Even a little saffron to make it more golden. I like it as I learned it, following a step by step in a small role that my Portuguese partner Josçe Graça left me.
• Coriander  was formerly used instead of parsley, but I like the flavor of parsley more smoothly. I have also seen it with chopped chives, surely it is not bad.

A little history about this recipe

• It is very popular in almost all the Portuguese territory, being one of the most famous cod recipes in Portuguese cuisine. It can be found in most restaurants in Lisbon, it even usually appears with the name Bacalao a la lisbonense .
• As you can see, this dish has a lot of different names, although the best known is ” O Bacalhau à Braz “, with zeta. Like the inventor of the recipe, Senhor Braz , who wrote his last name with this old spelling.
• Its origin is located in the upper district of Lisbon, where this tarberneiro used leftover grilled cod by adding a scramble of onion, eggs and parsley. The potatoes would be added later to the recipe, the original did not carry them.
• You can enjoy more Portuguese recipes on the blog. From the famous tamboril rice , the traditional Portuguese- style cod , the unknown but incredible Gomes de Sá cod or a fish and seafood cataplana .
• Not forgetting the wide variety of Portuguese desserts, the  Pão de Ló , the Belem cakes or the explosive bombs in Berlin .