Bacalaitos or codfish fritters are a traditional Puerto Rican recipe that has been enjoyed by many because of their salty, fried goodness. These fritters use salted codfish, and its texture helps make these little bites so tasty your tastebuds will do the happy dance.
Bacalaitos ~ Codfish Fritters
Bacalaítos are pancake-like codfish fritters, crisp on the outside and dense and chewy on the inside. These delicious codfish fritters recipe is a hit no matter the season.
Servings 15
Ingredients
- 1 lbs salted codfish no skin or bones
- ¼ cup onions chopped
- 1 bell pepper chopped
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp sofrito
- 3 tbsp parsley chopped
- 3 tbsp cilantro chopped
- 1 tbsp oregano
- ¼ tsp sazon
- 5 cups water
- 1 tsp white vinegar
Instructions
- Rinse fish thoroughly before placing into a bowl of water. Refrigerate for 3 hours, then drain water and add fresh water. Repeat 1 more time.
- Drain water after the second 3 hour round. Place fish into a pot with 3 cups of water and vinegar. Bring water to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove pot from heat and let water cool.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl add in remaining ingredients, except for the water.
- Next, using a colander, drain fish into a new bowl, and reserve 1 cup of the salted fish water.
- Using your hands, shred fish as finely as desired.
- Add the 1 cup of salted water to the flour mixture, and mix together. Next, slowly add an additional cup of fresh water to the mixture. For a thinner and crispier bacalaito, add in up to another cup of fresh water. Mix together to form a pancake like batter.
- Next, fold in your fish and let batter sit for ten minutes.
- After 10 minutes, to a frying pan add in 1 1/2 inches of vegetable oil for frying. Once oil is hot, ladle in 1/4 cup of batter, in a long stride to create a long bacalaito.
- Fry until edges are lightly brown, and flip over. Cooking for 2-3 minutes per side, or longer for a crispier bacalaito.
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