Because today in NY, with the 25 March parade coming it feels like the 25 March Greek anniversary and wherever there is a Greek Diaspora we enjoy plenty of salted fried cod with tons of skordalia (garlic sauce). Here is the best recipe!
HDN Team
For the cod
Recipe Ingredients
1.5 kg cod, unsaltedboneolive oil or seed oil for fryinga little flour for breadingsalt pepper
Method of execution
Desalt our cod.
Drain your fish well and dry it with paper towels so that it is dry and the batter catches well on it.
Make our batter. (the recipe is at the end of the article)
Cut the cod into small portions, equal in size and thickness so that they fry evenly.
Put a deep frying pan with olive oil or seed oil on the heat until the oil reaches 180o C. We personally prefer good olive oil.
Add 200 gr. flour in a baking dish. Add salt, pepper, and mix.
Dip each piece into the pan with the flour because in this way the batter will stick better to your fish.
Shake each piece to remove the extra flour and then dip it into your bowl with the batter.
Shake the excess batter and fry until the pieces are golden, turning them if necessary.
Do not pour the cod abruptly into the hot oil, hold it with tweezers until it forms a first crust and then let it go. If we throw it and leave it immediately, then it will stick to the bottom.
Take it out as soon as it acquires a nice golden color and becomes crispy and place it in a baking tray with absorbent paper.
Two secrets to perfect fried cod
The first secret to a delicious fried cod is that the batter doesn't have a thick crust around it.
The batter is made with: flour, corn starch, beer and a little salt
The second and most important secret for the perfect cod is not to cover the pan with many pieces at once, because this causes the temperature of the oil to drop and the cod boils in oil instead of being fried.
For the garlic sauce (with bread and walnuts)Recipe Ingredients2 large slices of bread1 cup walnuts2-4 cloves garlic salt, optional2/3 cup olive oil
Method of execution
In a bowl, add the slices of bread to soften.
Put the walnuts, garlic, salt and half of the olive oil in the blender's bowl and turn the switch for a while.
Remove the bread from the water and drain it with your hands until all the liquids are gone.
Add the bread to the walnut mixture.
Turn the switch on the blender again and slowly add the rest of the olive oil until you get a thick cream.
For the garlic sauce (with potato)Recipe Ingredients750 g potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces1 tsp salt, coarse3 cloves garlic175 ml olive oil50 ml vinegar, from white green pepper, freshly grated
1 spring onion, finely chopped3-4 tsp parsley, finely chopped
Method of execution
In a pot of water, add 1 teaspoon of coarse salt and bring to a boil.
Add the potatoes that have been peeled and cut into small pieces and boil for 15-30 minutes, until soft enough that when you pierce them with a fork they break.
At the same time, in a mixer, add the olive oil, garlic, vinegar, salt and freshly ground pepper and beat until the garlic dissolves.
Once the potatoes are ready, quickly transfer them to a colander and drain well.
Set aside for 5 minutes until their moisture evaporates. We don't leave any more because we won't be able to melt them.
Transfer to a bowl and lightly mash the potatoes with the puree tool. Depending on our preferences, melt them completely or let it have small pieces of potatoes.
Add the garlic mixture to the potatoes and stir to go everywhere.
At this point we taste and adapt the garlic sauce to our preferences.
What to remember about the garlic sauce
As time goes by, the smell of garlic becomes more intense. Also, with the passage of time, our garlic sauce tightens more.
And finally, the secret to the most perfect batter, as we learned it from Lefteris Lazarou.
Cod batter by Lefteris Lazaros (with beer and corn flour)
This batter by the great Greek chef gives a crispy and fluffy coating to the fish.
Recipe Ingredients300 g all-purpose flour200 g cornstarch500ml beer
Method Method
Put the flour, corn whey, beer in a bowl and mix until the mixture is homogenized and becomes porridge. The amount is enough for about 1 1/2 kg of cod desalted and cut into pieces of 130-120 gr.
Enjoy your meal and have a good March 25th!
