← Nouns Cooking · Mexican

Ingredients

• 500 g dried salt cod
• 120 ml Olive oil
• 1 Onion, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 700 g ripe tomatoes, blended or finely chopped
• 2 red peppers, roasted, peeled and cut into strips
• 450 g baby potatoes, peeled and halved
• 100 g pimiento-stuffed green olives, sliced
• 2 tbsp Capers
• 40 g blanched slivered almonds
• 1 handful Parsley, chopped
• 8 pickled güero chiles (or pickled yellow peppers)
• ½ tsp Dried oregano

Method

1. Soak the salt cod in plenty of cold water in the fridge for 24–48 hours, changing the water three or four times. Taste a flake: it should be pleasantly seasoned, not salty.
2. Put the cod in a pan of fresh water, bring to a simmer and cook for 5 min. Drain, cool, then shred it finely, removing skin and bones.
3. Boil the potatoes in unsalted water for 10–12 min, until just tender. Drain.
4. Heat the oil in a wide pot over medium heat and cook the onion for 8 min, until soft. Add the garlic for 1 minute, then the tomatoes, and simmer for 15 min, until thick and darker red.
5. Stir in the cod, peppers, olives, capers, almonds, oregano and half the parsley. Simmer gently for 20 min, stirring now and then, until the flavours meld and the stew is thick.
6. Fold in the potatoes and güero chiles and heat for 5 min. Taste before adding any salt. Scatter with the rest of the parsley and serve with crusty bolillos.

Tips

• Contains almonds; leave them out for a nut-free version.
• Leftovers stuffed into a bolillo make the classic Christmas-morning torta de bacalao.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Pati Jinich Maricruz Avalos ¡Hola! Jalapeño