Pil – pil cod is a typical recipe from the Basque Country. It is usually made in a clay pot, but you can also use a traditional pot for its preparation. To make this recipe, very few ingredients are needed, virgin olive oil being one of its essential ingredients, since it is the base of the sauce that we will accompany the cod.
Once the cod fillets are cooked in this oil, it binds to give it body and turns it into a delicious emulsion. This task of binding the oil takes time, so a great trick to achieve it is to use a kitchen strainer. Today, emulsifying machines are on the market, but since it’s not something we normally have at home, we propose this simple technique. Learn how to make pil-pil cod with a strainer in an easy and simple way.
Ingredients to make cod in pil-pil with strainer:
- 4 garlic cloves
- 300 milliliters of olive oil
- 8 chilies
- 4 cod fillets (to the point of salt)
How to make cod in pil-pil with strainer:
- To start with the recipe for cod in pil-pil with strainer, peel the garlic cloves and cut into thin slices.
- Put the olive oil in a wide pot over a low heat and heat. Add the garlic slices and cook over a low heat so that the garlic slices do not fry right away, but rather do so slowly and become caramelized.
- When the garlic is almost ready, add the chilies and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Remove the garlic and chilies with a slotted spoon and reserve. Put the cod fillets in the same oil with the skin facing up and cook for about four minutes on each side, making sure they don’t get fried. Small bubbles have to come out of the oil when cooking, if you see that the bubbles are large, reduce the heat and, if there is no movement of oil bubbles, raise the heat a little.
- Remove the cod fillets from the oil and reserve on a plate wrapped with aluminum foil so that the cod does not get cold. Let the oil that remains in the pot warm, you can change it to another pot so that the cooling process is faster.
- When it is lukewarm, you can begin to emulsify the oil by beating it with the help of a strainer. You will not need to beat from the bottom, rather do it from the surface so that it does not splash excessively. The process will take a while and you will notice that the oil turns white and thickens slightly.
- Serve the cod fillets accompanied by the emulsified oil and the sliced garlic along with the chilies. If the cod fillets have cooled, heat them slightly. It is normal for the emulsified oil to dissolve again when the loins are hot, as the emulsion stays cold and disappears when hot. Serve the cod al pil-pil right away.
