Serve this traditional Puerto Rican stew over a bed of white rice with a few slices of avocado. This favorite Lenten dinner dish of salt cod in a rich tomato broth shines with bright, vibrant herbs, potatoes, onions, peppers, and garlic.
Bacalao Guisado or salted cod stew, is a rich, tomato-based stew flavored with onions, peppers, and garlic, then bulked up with potatoes. The only salt in this dish comes from rehydrated, flaked codfish. The whole lot is spooned over rice and served on its own, or with a side of sliced avocado.
Salted Cod Stew is one of Puerto Rico’s most popular foods and often served during Lent. It’s also the dish that made me realize that I was different from most of my schoolmates.
My mother was very traditional when it came to the meals she cooked at home, so she never sent me to school with sandwiches for lunch. Whatever was for dinner the previous night became tomorrow’s lunch for us kids. The day I broke the seal on my Tupperware container, and the aromatic smell of cod fish and onions and tomatoes wafted through the air, I became the talk of the lunchroom. Not good talk, either.
They labeled me a “ (a hick or country girl). The fact that I’d never even visited Puerto Rico at that point was irrelevant to my classmates. I was mortified. I swore I’d only bring PB&Js to lunch in the future. But as an adult, this dish has become important to me, because it serves as the link to my Puerto Rican culture.
WHAT IS SALTED COD?
Cod is a round fish with firm, white flesh that flakes easily. To make salted cod the fillets are coated in salt and left to dry, thus preserving the meat for storage and later use.
Salted cod was most likely brought to the Puerto Rico by European sailors who docked at the island’s port during the early 15th or 16th century.
Though this island nation is dependent on the sea’s bounty, Cod is a cold water fish, which means all of it is imported. The mix of cultures who traded and intermingled with the native Tainos brought their own flavors to the island and this dish is one of the delicious representations of that marriage.
WHERE CAN YOU FIND SALTED COD?
Salted cod seems to be common in most of the larger grocers these days. Look for it in the refrigerated section of your supermarket’s fish section. Because it’s not a fresh fish, it’s usually found in bags or boxes near the canned crab meat.
If you live in a city with a high immigrant population, you may be able to find sides of heavily salted, darn near desiccated cod laying on shelves or hanging in the marketplace. This type of cod will require a longer amount of soaking to remove that high amount of salt from it to prepare it for cooking.
HOW TO PREPARE SALTED COD?
Salted cod must be soaked and rehydrated to remove most of the salt it’s been preserved in prior to using in your recipes. When cooked as is, its sodium content will make your dishes inedible.
Traditional Soak Method: Soak cod in cold water for at least 8 hours and change the water after 4 hours.
Fast Soak Method: Rinse the exterior layer of salt off before soaking the salted cod in cold water for 45 minutes. Once it’s softened a bit, feel through the meat and remove any remaining bones. Place the cod in a pan, cover with more cold water, and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Drain the saltwater and rinse the fillets a final time. Now the cod can be flaked and used in recipes.
I prefer the fast soak method—one hour versus eight hours.
If you’re on a low-sodium diet, the flaked fish can be simmered once again and drained a second time to remove virtually all of the salt.
CAN YOU MAKE BACALAO GUISADO WITH FRESH OR UNSALTED COD?
Bacalao Guisado is traditionally made with salted cod, but fresh cod can be used. It’s the salted cod itself that seasons the stew. To replicate that salinity, you only need to add a teaspoon of kosher salt to the recipe along with the oregano and black pepper.
WHAT IS RECAO?
One of the most popular ways to season Puerto Rican dishes is with a sofrito that begins with an herb paste called recao. Recao, sometimes called Mexican coriander, is both the name of the herb and the paste. The paste is made by blending recao leaves, which taste verdant and almost garlicky, with onions, garlic, and sweet peppers. You can make it yourself or buy it at the store.
If you can’t find recao paste your local grocery store, and you can’t find the actual herb to make the paste yourself, it’s best just to make a basic sofrito by combining the onions, garlic, and sweet peppers and skipping the racao.
WAYS TO ADAPT THIS RECIPE
Most white fish can be used in this recipe. Haddock, pollack, hake, mahi mahi, catfish, and (my personal favorite) orange roughy are good substitutes for the cod used in this recipe. If using any of these other types of fish, you’ll add a teaspoon of salt to the dish to compensate for the salted cod.
You can also switch up the ingredients. If you’re looking for another version of Salt Cod Stew you might want to check out this Portuguese version made with eggs, olives and loads of olive oil.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH BACALAO GUISADO
Rice is the most common accompaniment to this dish. In some rural parts of Puerto Rico, and among my older family members, a cornmeal mush called often accompanies Bacalao Guisado. is just thick cornmeal polenta. A few slices of avocado or a green salad would also go well with this dish.
CAN YOU MAKE BACALAO AHEAD OF TIME?
The beauty of this dish is that it grows more flavorful as it sits. You can prepare the Bacalao Guisado the evening before you plan to serve it. Reheat it in a covered dish on the stovetop over medium heat until it’s warmed through. This comes in handy if you’re planning to use the old school, longer soaking time.
CAN YOU FREEZE BACALAO?
If you’re a freezer meal lover like I am, you’ll be happy to know that Bacalao Guisado is freezer-friendly. Add the stew to freezer-safe containers and cover the fish in the liquid to protect it from freezer burn.
