Codfish in pil pil sauce
Ingredients
- 4 pieces medium cod loins/fillets
- 6 cloves garlic peeled
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tblsp parsely chopped
- 1 piece dried red chilli pepper
Instructions
- Desalt the cod by soaking the loins in water for 24 hours. Change the water every 6 to 8 hours. Once done, remove the pieces of fish from the soaking water, drain and dry well with kitchen paper or a clean tea towel.
- Squeeze the garlic cloves from their skins and crush them lightly in a mortar, but without forming a paste. Take a frying pan (traditionally made of clay), with a diameter sufficient to place the pieces of fish loosely next to each other. Heat a generous layer of olive oil and fry the garlic. If desired, you can add two or three pieces of dried red chilli pepper. Arrange the cod with the skin up in the pan. This last is very important to obtain a good pil-pil sauce. Add more olive oil to cover the fish, just up to the edge of the fillet.
- Place the frying pan on a low heat and move the fish back and forth rhythmically and gently by moving the pan. Keep the heat low and bring the oil to the boil. Poach the fish slowly. A few minutes later white bubbles will start to emerge from the loin, this is the gelatine which is responsible for thickening the sauce by emulsifying with the oil. Continue until all the oil has been absorbed and a creamy sauce has formed, that is the sign that the cod is cooked and ready to serve. Add the chopped parsely on top of the fish.
- In this recipe patience is the essential ingredient for success, the result makes it well worth the effort!
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