Bacalao Guisado (Salt Cod Stew)
Salt cod simmered in a sofrito and tomato sauce with potatoes, peppers and olives. Serve it over white rice.
Recipe in testing: I'm cooking it in my TM7™ and will update the steps and the photo with my own.
Bacalao guisado is Puerto Rican comfort food: chunks of salt cod in a light tomato sauce with sofrito, potatoes, bell peppers and green olives. It is a classic during Lent and Holy Week, but it is good any day of the year over a plate of white rice, with avocado on the side or with boiled viandas.
Soak the cod the night before so it loses most of its salt. In the Thermomix® TM7™, the onion and sofrito sauté first, then the potatoes simmer in the sauce, and the cod goes in at the end on reverse at soft speed, so the pieces stay whole.
Made in the Thermomix® TM7™
Bacalao Guisado (Salt Cod Stew)
Makes: 4 servings
- Prep20 min
- Cook40 min
- Total9 h
- Serves4
Ingredients
To serve
Instructions
- The night before, rinse the cod under cold water, place it in a large bowl and cover it with cold water. Refrigerate 8 to 24 hours, changing the water 3 or 4 times. Drain it, remove any skin or bones and cut it into 5 cm (2 in) pieces.
- Place the onion and garlic in the mixing bowl and chop 4 sec/speed 5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with the spatula.
- Add the olive oil and sofrito and sauté 5 min/120°C (250°F)/speed 1.
- Add the bell pepper strips and sauté 3 min/120°C (250°F)/reverse/speed 1.
- Add the tomato sauce, water, potatoes, bay leaf, oregano and black pepper. Place the simmering basket on the mixing bowl lid instead of the measuring cup and cook 15 min/100°C (212°F)/reverse/speed soft.
- Add the cod, olives and capers and cook 10 min/100°C (212°F)/reverse/speed soft, until the potatoes are tender and the cod flakes when you press it with a fork.
- Taste the sauce and add salt only if needed. Remove the bay leaf, let the stew rest 5 minutes and serve it over white rice, with avocado on the side if you like.
Tips
- Short on time? Desalt the cod in the TM7: place it in 4 pieces in the mixing bowl with 1000 g water and cook 10 min/100°C (212°F)/reverse/speed soft. Drain, taste a flake and repeat with fresh water if it is still too salty, then cut it into pieces and continue with step 2.
- Want more sauce for the rice? Add 100 g (1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp) more water in step 5.
- Bacalao guisado keeps 3 days in the fridge and tastes even better the next day. Reheat it gently, covered, so the cod stays moist.
- Serve it the traditional way with boiled viandas, such as yuca, green bananas or yautía, instead of rice.
