Salt Cod Fritters

The key to finding great bacalao, also known as salt cod or salted codfish, is the thickness of the fish; if the flesh is too thin, the salt will overwhelm it. It should be light in color, not gray, and you don’t want it to be too pungent. Take the time to thoroughly desalt the bacalao by rinsing and soaking it. While time-consuming, it’s a necessary and very easy step. If you are feeling adventurous, you can make the bacalao yourself by packing fresh cod in kosher salt and leaving it covered to cure for two to three days. Remove the cod from the salt and then follow the steps in the salt cod fritter recipe below.

This recipe was excerpted from 'Seafood Simple' by Eric Ripert. Buy the full book on Amazon.