The secret is in the good batter: it must be mixed a little and it must be frozen so that it sticks to the fish when we put it in the hot oil. The bowl in which we will make the batter must have been placed in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to freeze. The beer should also be cold. At the end, we put the batter for another 20 minutes in the refrigerator to be well frozen before using it. The recipe has other secrets: flouring the fish before going through the batter. The addition of corn flour and baking powder. The right temperature of oil for frying. Without further ado, see below how the chef himself describes the process.

The food can be made with the traditional salted cod that we have salted, but also with fresh cod that we lightly salt ourselves, a technique favored by chefs that gives us a very juicy and high-quality fish.

The secrets to the batter

For the batter I will borrow two secrets of Japanese tempura. The first is that all the ingredients must be frozen, from the refrigerator. The frozen batter sticks better to the cold fish when it is placed in the hot oil. The second technique is minimal mixing, no wire or fork: just fingers.

Put the 150 gr. flour, cornflour, baking powder, paprika and salt in a stainless steel bowl (cold too, we have left it in the fridge for 30 minutes), pour in the cold beer and mix with your fingers, like the Japanese with their chopsticks . The mixing does not last more than half a minute, just enough to wet the flour. If I mix it more, its temperature will rise a bit, the gluten will activate and the crust will become rubbery and “smother” the fish. Don’t worry about lumps in the batter, that’s all. The batter becomes a bit watery, it drips quickly from the fingers. Then put it in the fridge for another 20 minutes.

Why we prefer beer to water when I make batter: Alcohol evaporates faster than water in frying and makes the crusts crispier (grandmothers, when they make pie doughs, put a little tsipouro or ouzo in, to make the sheet more crispy). The brewer’s yeast also helps, along with the baking powder, to give the thin crust a nice rise.

The frying

For frying, we use a lot of good olive oil (but not cod liver oil) in a deep pot and heat it with a thermometer to 165-170°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, the oil is ready if, dropping a drop of batter, it browns well in a few seconds, but not in a flash and too strongly.

Bring the pieces of cod together. In the two pieces of the tail, we turn it towards the thicker part of the fish and press it to stick, to thicken the piece a little so that it does not dry out. Pass each piece through a thick straw for a skewer, for better breading and frying. Holding each piece of fish with the straw, flour it, shake it a bit and then dip it in the batter for 2 seconds.

Lift it, let it drip and put it in the oil, holding the straw for 3-4 seconds, so that the piece does not go to the bottom. Then leave it and fry it for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown. Drain it on kitchen paper for 4-5 minutes.

The hot thin crust looks like multiple delicate leaves. This is the result of minimal mixing. In some places it can even break, like a dried sheet of puff pastry breaks if I pinch it with my finger. When you bite into it, you will hear minute “crack, crack, crack” in a row: it’s the very thin, very crispy, very fluffy leaves, which the tooth breaks apart one by one, before reaching the well-cooked, firm, but also juicy flesh of the fish .

The garlic clove

If you choose to make the garlic, you will make it before you start the process with the cod. I personally like the walnut skordalia, the potatoes and the bread look weak in front of the nice walnut crust. This type of skordalia with nuts (walnuts, almonds, pine nuts), with or without any bread, was very popular in the city and throughout Asia Minor.

Put all the ingredients (except the oil) into a powerful food processor and pulse for 2 minutes clockwise, until they become a smooth puree. Then, without stopping, add the oil little by little. Test at the end and if the mixture comes out too thick, add a few spoonfuls of water and beat again. If it comes out weaker, add a little more vinegar.

Serve the cod, while it is hot and crispy, with the shallot and beetroot boiled or roasted with a little oil and vinegar or a beetroot salad with oregano and olive oil vinegar.

Ingredients for the recipes

Servings: 6 – 8
-2 kilos of salted cod, salted *, cut into medium pieces
-flour, for flour
-at least 1 liter of olive oil for frying

For the batter

-300 ml blonde beer
-150 gr. flour for all uses
-50 gr. corn flour
-25 gr. baking powder
= 1/2 tsp. sweet paprika spicy
-a little salt

For the walnut garlic

-200 gr. Nuts, crushed
-1-2 tsp. tablespoon of good red wine vinegar
-100 ml olive oil
-125 ml of water
-2-3 cloves of garlic (or as much as we want)
-salt, freshly ground pepper
– some sweet paprika, as desired

Procedure

Batter

For the perfect fried cod, put 150 gr. flour, cornflour, baking powder, paprika and salt in a stainless steel bowl (cold too, we have left it in the fridge for 30 minutes), pour in the cold beer and mix with your fingers, like the Japanese with their chopsticks .

The mixing does not last more than half a minute, just enough to wet the flour. The batter becomes a bit watery, it drips quickly from the fingers.
Then put it in the fridge for another 20 minutes.

Frying

For frying, we use a lot of good olive oil (but not cod liver oil) in a deep pot and heat it with a thermometer to 165-170°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, the oil is ready if, dropping a drop of batter, it browns well in a few seconds, but not in a flash and too strongly.

Bring the pieces of cod together. In the two pieces of the tail, we turn it towards the thicker part of the hair and press it to stick, to thicken the piece a little to dry.

Pass each piece through a thick straw for a skewer, for better breading and frying. Holding each piece of fish with the straw, flour it, shake it a bit and then dip it in the batter for 2 seconds.

Lift it, let it drip and put it in the oil, holding the straw for 3-4 seconds, so that the piece does not go to the bottom.

Then leave it and fry it for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown.

Drain it on kitchen paper for 4-5 minutes.

Skordalia

Put all the ingredients (except the oil) into a powerful food processor and pulse for 2 minutes clockwise, until they become a smooth puree.

Then, without stopping, add the oil little by little.

Test at the end and if the mixture comes out too thick, add a few spoonfuls of water and beat again. If it comes out weaker, add a little more vinegar.

Brining the cod

Rinse the cod thoroughly under running water to remove the salt with which it is covered. Then we put it skin side up in a large basin of cold water where we leave it for at least 12 hours and up to 36 hours depending on the quantity and how pickled it is. We make sure that the cod is submerged in the water and for this reason we cover it with a plate and put a heavy object on top (e.g. a stone). Thus, it stays in the water and is properly rinsed. Every 4-6 hours or as often as possible, tilt the basin carefully, holding the plate, empty the water and fill with fresh water. To be sure that the cod is properly salted, cut off a small piece and boil it in a little water for a few minutes: the fish should have a delicious saltiness but not be rancid.

Source: gastronomos.gr