Portuguese Bacalhau à Brás with Crispy Potatoes
Bacalhau à Brás
A comforting Portuguese salt cod skillet with crisp potatoes, sweet onions, softly set eggs, parsley, and briny black olives.
Bacalhau à Brás is one of Portugal's best-loved salt cod dishes: shredded cod, onions, fine potato sticks, and eggs cooked together until creamy rather than dry. This version keeps the potatoes crisp by frying them separately and folding them through the skillet just before the eggs finish setting.
The key is starting with well-soaked salt cod. It should taste pleasantly seasoned, not aggressively salty, before it goes into the pan. If your fish is still quite salty after soaking, give it one more change of cold water and taste a small cooked flake before seasoning the finished dish.
Thinly sliced onions are cooked slowly in olive oil until soft and sweet, then the flaked cod is warmed through with garlic and bay. Beaten eggs are added off direct high heat so they coat the cod and potatoes in soft curds instead of scrambling hard.
Serve the skillet right away with chopped parsley and black olives. A green salad or simple steamed greens make the meal complete without taking attention away from the gentle salt cod, sweet onion, and crisp potato texture.
Nutrition (per serving)
Directions
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1
Put the soaked salt cod in a saucepan, cover with fresh cold water, and bring just to a simmer. Cook for 8 minutes, then drain, cool slightly, remove any bones or skin, and flake the fish into bite-size shreds.
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2
Cut the potatoes into very thin matchsticks, rinse them in cold water until the water runs mostly clear, and dry them thoroughly on clean towels.
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3
Heat 1 inch of vegetable oil in a deep skillet to 350°F. Fry the potatoes in batches for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring gently, until pale golden and crisp. Drain on paper towels and season lightly with salt.
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4
In a wide skillet, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and bay leaf, then cook for 12 to 15 minutes until the onions are very soft but not browned.
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5
Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the flaked cod and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, folding gently so the fish warms through without breaking into paste.
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6
Whisk the eggs with the milk, a small pinch of salt, and black pepper. Remove the bay leaf from the skillet and lower the heat to medium-low.
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7
Fold the fried potatoes into the cod mixture, then pour in the eggs. Stir slowly for 2 to 4 minutes, taking the skillet off the heat as needed, until the eggs form soft glossy curds.
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8
Remove from the heat while the eggs still look slightly creamy. Fold in most of the parsley, taste carefully for salt, and adjust with pepper.
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9
Scatter the olives and remaining parsley over the top. Serve immediately while the potatoes are still crisp at the edges.
Ingredients
- Salt cod fillets, soaked and drained:1 1/4 lb
- Russet potatoes, peeled:1 1/2 lb
- Olive oil:1/3 cup
- Yellow onions, thinly sliced:2 medium
- Garlic cloves, minced:3
- Bay leaf:1
- Large eggs:6
- Whole milk:2 tbsp
- Flat-leaf parsley, chopped:1/2 cup
- Pitted black olives:1/3 cup
- Kosher salt:to taste
- Black pepper:to taste
- Vegetable oil for frying:as needed
Tips & Notes
- Soak salt cod in the refrigerator for 24 to 36 hours, changing the water several times, unless the package gives a different desalting time.
- Dry the potato matchsticks very well before frying; surface moisture keeps them from crisping evenly.
- For the creamiest eggs, pull the skillet off the heat before they look fully set because the residual heat will finish them.
