Puerto Rican Bacalaitos are thin, crispy, and fried to perfection until they are golden brown.Â
Recipe Puerto Rican Bacalaitos
Ingredients
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
12 ounces water
4 ounces bacalao (salted codfish)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground oregano
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon recao
1 cup oil for frying
Directions
Bacalao (Salted Codfish)
Rinse any excess salt from your salted codfish. You can do this under running water in your sink or in a bowl of water. In a large saucepan add water and cook your codfish for 15 minutes.
Drain and shred into smaller pieces. While doing this check that there are no bones in left. Taste your codfish to make sure that it has the perfect amount of saltiness. If it still has too much salt then rinse in a bowl and taste again. Set aside.
Batter
In a medium bowl add water, flour and seasonings. Mix everything together well until there are no visible bumps. Add recao and mix in. Last, add your codfish and mix it well.
Fry
In a medium pan add your oil and set it to medium. Add your mix and fry on each side for 3 minutes. Then bring up your oil to medium high and fry for an extra 2 minutes per side.
Recipe Notes
1. One of the most important things to do is to make sure you check your codfish for any bones that were left in.Â
2. Your batter should have a thin consistency. If the batter is too thick add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until you reach the right consistency. If too thin then add 1 tablespoon of flour until it gets thick enough.
3. I used a ½ cup to measure the batter for each bacalaito. You can use a cup or a ladle. You can make them smaller if you like or even bigger.
4. When frying your bacalaitos your oil should not be very hot. The reason for this is that if it is very hot instead of one bacalaito it will spread into tiny pieces. When you first put your batter in it will look soggy and that’s ok. After 6 minutes you will increase your oil temperature to medium-high and this is when it will start to get crispy.
Tip:
Bacalaitos are best eaten right after frying but you can make and eat them later. To keep them warm what I do is mimic the hot food displays used in Puerto Rico. Turn your oven on for 10 minutes at 200°F. Turn off your oven and turn on the light. This will keep the temperature of your oven warm. Your bacalaitos should not be there for more than 1 hour as they will become soggy and won’t taste as good.