Bacalao al Pil Pil

Where This Goes Wrong

Keep the oil warm, not hot.

Swirl the pan in slow, steady circles.

Use fish with skin on for the gelatine.

Making Bacalao al Pil Pil

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1. Salt the cod and leave for 30 minutes. Pat dry.

   Mark done Start 30 min timer

2. Heat the oil in a wide, shallow pan with the garlic and chillies over a low heat for 4 minutes until the garlic is pale gold. Lift out and keep. Cool the oil for 5 minutes.

   Mark done Start 4 min timer

3. Lay the cod in the oil skin-side up. Cook very gently over the lowest heat for 8 minutes, then turn and cook for 6 minutes. Lift out and keep warm.

   Mark done Start 8 min timer

4. Take the pan off the heat and swirl it slowly in circles for 5 to 8 minutes until the oil turns cloudy and thickens into a creamy sauce.

   Mark done Start 5 min timer

5. Return the cod, spoon over the sauce, and scatter with the garlic, chillies and parsley.

   Mark done

Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Why the Method Works

It is a sauce made from oil and fish, and it works because of gelatine. The Basque pil pil, named after the sound of the bubbling oil, is an emulsion: as the cod cooks in warm olive oil, it releases collagen from its skin and flesh, and when the pan is swirled in slow circles, the collagen bonds with the oil and forms a thick, pale, creamy sauce, with no cream, butter or flour.

The traditional fish is salt cod, soaked for 48 hours in changes of water. A fresh cod fillet with the skin on also works, and the skin is what gives the gelatine. Choose thick fillets of about 200 g, and salt them lightly 30 minutes before cooking. Keep the oil warm, never hot. At 60°C / 140°F the oil is barely too hot to touch. Above that, the emulsion will not form.

Heat 200 ml of olive oil with sliced garlic and a dried chilli until the garlic is pale gold, then lift them out. Cool the oil for 5 minutes. Add the cod, skin-side up, and cook very gently for 8 minutes, then turn it skin-side down.

Now the work: lift the fish out, and swirl the pan slowly, in circles, for 5 to 8 minutes. The oil turns cloudy, then thickens into a mayonnaise-like sauce. Return the fish and spoon over the sauce.

Leftovers, Reheating and Keeping

Best eaten straight away.

If You're Missing Something

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

What to Serve Alongside

• Crusty bread
• Boiled potatoes
• Txakoli
• Green salad

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Pisto, Escalivada, Espinacas a la Catalana.

Questions and Answers

What's in a Serving

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

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