Bolinhos de Bacalhau or Deep-fried Cod Fritters #FishFridayFoodies

These tasty little morsels are called bolinhos de bacalhau in Brazil, where they are a traditional dish and a favorite party food. In English, a literal translation is little cod balls, but deep-fried cod fritters gets the idea across much better.

My first memory of salt cod, that is, cod that has been liberally salted then dried to preserve it, was on a holiday in Portugal. The grocery stores had stacks of salt cod, in bins like we might find a pile of lemons or a display of corn on the cob. I had no idea what to do with such a salty dry ingredient.

It took moving to Brazil to learn several recipes. Since it doesn’t need refrigeration and maintains its nutrients and flavor for several years, salt cod is a staple in many countries. In Brazil, it is often rehydrated and cooked in rich stews or pan-fried with potatoes and served with hard-boiled eggs and olives.

But my favorite recipe is definitely bolinhos de bacalhau, crispy cod fritters made with mashed potato that are deep-fried till crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Bolinhos de Bacalhau or Deep-fried Cod Fritters

Start the preparations for this recipe at least one day before you want to fry your fritters. The salt cod needs to be soaked for a minimum of 24 hours to get rid of the salt and rehydrate the fish.

Ingredients - makes 2 dozen
8 oz or 225g salt cod
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Small bunch parsley, thick stalks discarded, finely chopped
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
(1-2 tablespoons flour)

Canola or other light oil for deep-frying

Method
Put the salt cod in a bowl and cover with fresh cool water. If you live in a warm climate, you can put this bowl in the refrigerator. Very important: Change the water at least four times in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, you can prepare the rest of the ingredients and refrigerate them until the cod is ready or start the cooking process when the 24 hours is up.

Peel and quarter the potatoes.

Boil in unsalted water until just tender, then mash them with a potato masher or a fork, until there are no lumps. Set aside to cool.

Cut the bones and skin off of the cod and discard. Use the tines of a fork to shred the cod, making sure that you pick out any bones you missed the first time. Use a sharp knife to chop the shredded cod finely.

Sauté the minced onion and garlic until they have softened, in the olive oil over a medium fire. Remove the pan from the stove and mix in the chopped parsley.

Mix the mashed potato and shredded cod with the sautéed onion mixture, the ground peppers and the eggs.

This should be fairly stiff. If need be, add some flour to help it bind. I don’t usually need to add any, but many of the Brazilian recipes suggest that flour may be necessary.

Lay paper towels on top of a wire rack, nearby the stove.

Heat enough oil to cover a 2-tablespoon ball of the mixture (about 2 1/2 in or 6.3cm deep should do it) in a deep fryer or a deep pot on the stove, to about 375°F or 190°C.

Use a tablespoon or a cookie scoop to make small balls and drop them carefully into the hot oil, just a few at a time. Do not crowd the pot.  Traditionally, these should be oval or American-football shaped, but I have a cookie scoop and it’s so much easier!

Fry the bolinhos for several minutes or until they are a lovely golden brown and crunchy on the outside. Use a slotted spoon to carefully remove them from the hot oil and put them on the paper towels to drain. Continue until all of the fritters are cooked.

Serve hot and fresh with some spicy hot sauce or your favorite tartar sauce, if desired.

Enjoy!

This month my Fish Friday Foodies are sharing Latin American seafood dishes so make sure you check out the list below. Many thanks to our host, Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories.

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Fresh Fish Soup

This fresh fish soup recipe makes a nutritious pot of deliciousness, perfect for a chilly winter night, but equally enjoyable on a summer evening because it is so light and flavorful. Best of all, it’s very easy to make.

As much as I love creamy soups, we tend to eat them mostly when it's cold outside. I love clear broth soups more because I can enjoy those all year long. In the summer, they cool you off in the same way that drinking a cup of hot tea does. You start to perspire a little bit, and a slight breeze cools you right off. And if you make soup like I make soup, there's going to be a little chili pepper added as well which has the same effect.

But in the winter time, the hot broth (with chili too, of course) warms you up from the inside out.

Fresh Fish Soup

This fresh fish soup recipe is inspired by one I saw either online or in a magazine but for the life of me, I can’t seem to find it again to give the creator credit.

Ingredients
5 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 red chili peppers
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
1 large ripe summer tomato, sliced
4 1/4 cups or 1 L homemade fish stock
1.1 lbs or 500g firm fish steaks, with bones (I used Kingfish but you can substitute any firm fish.)

For garnish:
green onion tops, chopped

Method
Layer the potatoes at the bottom of the pot. Split the chili peppers with a sharp knife. Tuck the crushed garlic, peppers and carrots in and around the potatoes. Add the sliced onions on top.

Top with the sliced tomato. Season with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pour in the fish stock.  Bring the pot to the boil, then turn it down to simmer and cover with a tight-fitting lid.

Season the fish steaks with sea salt and black pepper and set aside while the stock simmers for 30-40 minutes.

Add the fish steaks to the pot and cover again.

Simmer until the fish is cooked through.

Taste the soup and add more salt, if needed.

Serve in a shallow bowl with a sprinkling of chives or parsley, with crusty bread for dipping.

Enjoy!

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Salmon Soba Noodle Buddha Bowls with Ginger Sesame Dressing #FishFridayFoodies

Pan-fried salmon soba noodle Buddha bowls with ginger sesame dressing are easy, tasty and healthy too. They can be made ahead of time and chilled, if you like cold salmon like we do, or assembled when you are ready to eat with warm salmon on top.  Either way, you are going to love the flavors of this dish!

Years ago my father was living in Southeast Asia. Every time I went to visit him, I flew on the Japanese national carrier, JAL. Their menu never seemed to vary, at least in Economy. You had the choice of a Western meal, invariably a small hockey puck-sized filet mignon steak, overcooked, grey and flavorless. Or the Japanese meal, a small bowl of delicately flavored miso soup with slivers of seaweed and cold soba noodles with a delightfully salty savory dipping sauce. There were other parts to the meal to accompany the noodles, but those were the highlight for me. A revelation of tender chewiness unlike any noodle I had met before. And their dipping sauce was heaven. I guess you know which meal I would choose.

Ever since, I’ve been a fan of soba noodles. And, frankly, Japanese food in general. When was the last time you’ve ever heard that airplane food was a positive convincer for a whole country’s cuisine? I owe JAL a debt of gratitude.

You might think the star of this recipe is the salmon, sitting there on center stage on top of the Buddha bowl. And it is lovely, especially seasoned with the shichimi togarashi. But I’ve got to tell you that what makes this dish special is the homemade ginger sesame dressing. It’s so easy to make – and it keeps well in the refrigerator. It’s also what adds the most flavor to this cold soba noodle salad.

You’ll have ginger sesame dressing leftovers with this recipe so try it on a fresh baby spinach salad with oranges and maybe some toasted almonds. Another of our favorites.

Salmon Soba Noodle Buddha Bowls with Ginger Sesame Dressing

Ingredients
For the ginger sesame dressing:
1/2 cup or 120ml extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup or 60ml apple cider vinegar
2 in or 5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons soy sauce (I like Kikkoman’s.)
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon tahini paste
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

For 2 salmon soba noodle bowls:
2 salmon fillets, skin on (about 4 3/4 oz or 135g each)
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Shichimi togarashi – Read more about it here.
7 oz or 200g soba (buckwheat) noodles
7 oz or 200g snow peas (mangetout)
1 medium carrot, grated
3-4 small crunchy radishes, sliced
1/2 cup or 120ml ginger sesame dressing, plus a couple of tablespoons
2 teaspoons black sesame seeds
Small bunch green onions, chopped

Method
First, make the ginger sesame dressing: Combine all the ingredients in a blender or in an appropriate vessel with a hand blender. Process until smooth and emulsified.

Refrigerate the dressing as you prepare the rest of the ingredients. It will keep well in the refrigerator for at least two weeks.

Season the salmon fillets by sprinkling salt, black pepper and shichimi togarashi on both sides. Cook them skin side down in a hot pan just until you see the color lighten inside the skin. Remove the salmon from the pan and place on a plate skin side up. Use a thin blade to gently remove the skin and put it back in the pan.

Cook till crispy. Set aside to drain on a paper towel.

Season the skinless side with the salt, pepper and shichimi togarashi. Return the salmon fillets to the hot pan and cook to your desired doneness. I know some people like salmon a bit rare inside, but we like ours cooked through. (Unless we are eating sushi or sashimi, in which case, we love it complete raw. It’s all or nothing with us.)

Meanwhile, put a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Once it comes to a boil, add in the soba noodles a few at a time and give them a bit of a stir so they don’t stick together.

Bring water back up to a boil and then immediate reduce the heat to simmer. Cook for about 6-7 minutes for thin noodles, 7-8 minutes for thicker ones, or according to the package instructions.

In the last 2 minutes of cooking time, add in the snow peas.

Fill a large bowl with cold water and add some ice cubes.

Drain the noodles and snow peas in a colander and rinse with cool water, washing them till the water runs clear.

Soba noodles are quite starchy and washing them is essential so do not skip this step. Now put them in the ice water until completely chilled. Drain well in a colander until dry.

Pick the snow peas out of the chilled soba noodles and set aside.

Pour the dressing over the noodles and toss them gently to coat. Add the sesame seeds and toss again to distribute them well. You can cover and refrigerate the noodles now and assemble your salmon soba noodle bowls later, if need be.

To assemble the noodle bowls, start with the dressed noodles, then top with the snow peas, grated carrots and sliced radishes. Add in the salmon. Drizzle on a little more of the dressing and sprinkle the bowl with the green onions. Don’t forget to add the crispy salmon skin! This is our favorite part anytime we cook salmon.

Enjoy!

This month my Fish Friday Foodie group is sharing Buddha bowls for your dining pleasure. Fresh and healthy Buddha bowls are apparently all the rage right now, with their starches or grains, protein and fresh vegetables. Many thanks to our host Sue from Palatable Pastime for pushing me to make my very first Buddha bowl! Check out the other seafood Buddha bowls right here.

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Garlic Lemon Fish Greek Salad Sandwiches #FishFridayFoodies

Garlic Lemon Fish Greek Salad Sandwiches are quite a mouthful, both by name and by flavor - pan-fried grouper tossed with a fresh salad of lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, black olives, onion and feta, all stuffed in halved pita rounds.

This month my Fish Friday Foodie friends are sharing seafood sandwiches and I’m excited to join them. When the hot summer starts to pick up speed in Dubai, heading straight into the triple digits (in Fahrenheit, anyway) we eat a lot of salads along with fish, chicken or beef that’s quickly pan-fried so it doesn’t heat up the kitchen. Never mind dishes that have to be cooked long and slow (unless in the slow cooker) or recipes that require a hot oven.

This Greek salad is tasty completely on its own, but add some garlic lemon fish and a wrap or pita bread, and you’ve got the perfect hot weather meal.

Garlic Lemon Fish Greek Salad Sandwiches

Ingredients for 4-5 sandwiches
For the fish:
10 1/2 oz or 300g boneless grouper or other firm white fish, cut in chunks
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2-3 tablespoons minced cilantro

For the salad:
3 1/2 oz or 100g feta, cut in cubes
handful black olives, pitted and halved
handful grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 small cucumber, chopped
1/2 small purple onion, sliced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
fine sea salt – use cautiously because the feta is salty
freshly ground black pepper
2-3 leaves of romaine lettuce, washed and ripped into small pieces

Method
To cook the fish:
Season the fish with salt and pepper. Pan-fry it in the olive oil till almost cooked through. This takes mere minutes. Add in the garlic and give the hot pan a stir and then quickly add the lemon juice so the garlic doesn’t scorch.

Toss the fish with the cilantro and set aside to cool, off the stove.

To mix the salad:
Add the onion to a large salad bowl along with the lemon juice. Leave to marinate for about five minutes. Add in the oil and stir.

Once the fish has cooled somewhat, add all the other salad ingredients - except the lettuce - into the salad bowl and toss to coat with the dressing and onions. Add in the fish and toss again gently. This can now be refrigerated until you are ready to serve.

Take the salad out of the refrigerator about 15 minutes before serving. Add the lettuce and toss again gently.

Cut your pita bread in half and carefully separate the sides. Fill each half with the salad. Or you can add the salad to the pita bread and fold it up like a taco.

Enjoy!

Check out all the other great seafood sandwiches we've got for you today! Many thanks to our host Colleen of Faith, Hope, Love & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice.

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