🐟 Bacalao al pil pil

Name: Bacalao al pil pil
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Spain · Basque Country
Ingredients: 4 thick salt cod loins with skin, about 150 g each, desalted for 36–48 hours; 250 ml mild olive oil; 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced; 1 small dried chili (guindilla), sliced into rings

Origin: Spain · Basque Country

350kcal

per serving · 250 g

140kcal

per 100 g

45 gProtein18 g / 100 g

18 gFat7 g / 100 g

2 gCarbs1 g / 100 g

Bacalao al pil pil is a Basque classic of desalted salt cod gently cooked in olive oil with garlic and a little dried chili. The gelatin released by the fish skin is swirled into the warm oil until it thickens into a pale, glossy, creamy-looking sauce — with nothing but cod, oil and garlic. It is served straight from the clay pot as a main course or a shared dish.

Diets

✓

No pork

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

✓

Keto-friendly1 g carbs per 100 g

✓

High protein18 g protein per 100 g — 51% of the calories

Not vegetarianbecause of: salt cod

Not veganbecause of: salt cod

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Fish

What it is made of

salt codgarlicolive oilchili pepper

Recipe

4 servings60 min

Ingredients

4 thick salt cod loins with skin, about 150 g each, desalted for 36–48 hours
250 ml mild olive oil
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 small dried chili (guindilla), sliced into rings

Method

Desalt the cod in cold water in the fridge for 36–48 hours, changing the water every 8 hours. Pat completely dry.
Warm the oil in a wide clay or heavy pan over low heat, fry the garlic and chili gently until just golden, then lift them out and set aside.
Let the oil cool a little, then add the cod skin side up and cook over very low heat for about 5 minutes per side, so the fish releases its gelatin without frying.
Take the pan off the heat and swirl it in circles constantly (or whisk the oil in a sieve over the cod) until the oil and fish juices thicken into a pale emulsion, 10–15 minutes.
Return the garlic and chili, spoon the sauce over the cod and serve warm.

How to make it lighter

The sauce is almost entirely olive oil: spoon a thin coat over the fish instead of eating all of it.
Pour off the excess oil before emulsifying — less oil still makes a sauce, just a smaller one.
Serve with a big plate of roasted peppers or salad rather than extra starch.

History

The name is usually explained as imitating the “pil-pil” sound of the oil bubbling gently around the cod in its earthenware dish. It comes from the Basque Country, where salt cod has been central to cooking since Basque fleets fished the North Atlantic. Making the emulsion by patiently swirling the pot is seen as a test of a Basque cook’s skill.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →