Bacalao al Pil-Pil
A cornerstone of Basque cooking: salt cod poached gently in olive oil with garlic and guindilla until its own gelatin emulsifies the oil into a pale, glossy pil-pil sauce. The magic is entirely in the wrist, coaxing the sauce together with patience.
Approximate, per 1 cod fillet (~200g) with sauce. Values vary by recipe and portion.
Ingredients
- ·4 pieces of salt cod loin, about 150 g each, desalted
- ·250 ml (1 cup) extra virgin olive oil
- ·4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- ·1 dried guindilla chilli, cut into rings
Method
- 1
Soak the salt cod in cold water in the fridge for 36 to 48 hours, changing the water 3 or 4 times, then pat the pieces dry.
- 2
Warm the olive oil in an earthenware cazuela over low heat and gently fry the garlic slices and guindilla until pale gold, then lift them out and reserve.
- 3
Let the oil cool slightly, then lay the cod pieces skin-side down in the oil and poach very gently for about 8 minutes, spooning oil over them; do not let it fry hard.
- 4
Lift the cod out and set aside. Tip the warm oil into a bowl, leaving the milky white gelatin the fish released in the cazuela.
- 5
Off the heat, add the oil back to the cazuela a little at a time while swirling the pan in a constant circular motion, so the gelatin and oil emulsify into a thick, pale sauce.
- 6
Once the sauce is glossy and coats a spoon, return the cod to the cazuela, warm through gently and scatter the reserved garlic and guindilla on top before serving.