A
arcoiris
Guest
I was at a fiesta with a potluck dinner and someone brought a delicious plate of cold bacalao salad. Does anyone know how to make it?
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bacalao salad
A
arcoiris
Guest
I got a basic recipe. You take some bacalao, soak it and cook it as prescribed and cube it. Boil some potato as for potato salad cubed. Take some avocado and cube that cold. You could add some boiled and cubed yautia. The size of the cubes is from 1/2 - 3/4 inch, not as big as regular potato salad. Add some recaito, and some oil as dressing. Toss it altogether. yummy
N
Natasha
Guest
Re: pretty basic
Hummmm...
I understand that every Dominican household has a different variation to making this dish, but Dominicans as a whole make it much different than the recipe you have.
The following is how we used make ensalada de bacalao for ages.
Depending on how much salad you are going to make, 5 - 10 of the following vegetables should do. Basically, the vegetables for boiling (in salted water) are potatoes, carrots, and tayotas. Yautia is optional. Most Dominican homes don't use yautia when preparing this dish. Boiled yautia is just too bland and not as tender as the other veggies. What IS added is hard-boiled eggs (2-3) instead.
You should soak the bacalao in cold water over night if you can, or for a couple of hours at least. 1/2 - 1lb. of bacalao should do. You are going to boil it in order to tenderdize it and de-salt (or is it un-salted?) it as much as possible. After boiling it, the bacalao should be very tender and flaky. You should be able to easily "shread" it with your hands. You don't cube it.
After the veggies and eggs are boiled, you are going to slice them, or cut them into "tajadas" or "ruedas", sort of following their natural shape. Again, I have never heard of cubing them.
We usually assemble the veggies on an oval dish. The bed for the salad becomes your boiled veggies. On top you assemble the bacalao and finish topping with the hard-boiled eggs.
As for dressing, you use the typical Dominican vinagrette - extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and salt. For this salad though, you want to use more olive oil than vinegar, and you should not need that much salt either because you have boiled the veggies in salted water already. We never used recaito. What is commonly used is slices of raw onions instead. I personally skip them.
Enjoy!
Natasha
Hummmm...
I understand that every Dominican household has a different variation to making this dish, but Dominicans as a whole make it much different than the recipe you have.
The following is how we used make ensalada de bacalao for ages.
Depending on how much salad you are going to make, 5 - 10 of the following vegetables should do. Basically, the vegetables for boiling (in salted water) are potatoes, carrots, and tayotas. Yautia is optional. Most Dominican homes don't use yautia when preparing this dish. Boiled yautia is just too bland and not as tender as the other veggies. What IS added is hard-boiled eggs (2-3) instead.
You should soak the bacalao in cold water over night if you can, or for a couple of hours at least. 1/2 - 1lb. of bacalao should do. You are going to boil it in order to tenderdize it and de-salt (or is it un-salted?) it as much as possible. After boiling it, the bacalao should be very tender and flaky. You should be able to easily "shread" it with your hands. You don't cube it.
After the veggies and eggs are boiled, you are going to slice them, or cut them into "tajadas" or "ruedas", sort of following their natural shape. Again, I have never heard of cubing them.
We usually assemble the veggies on an oval dish. The bed for the salad becomes your boiled veggies. On top you assemble the bacalao and finish topping with the hard-boiled eggs.
As for dressing, you use the typical Dominican vinagrette - extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and salt. For this salad though, you want to use more olive oil than vinegar, and you should not need that much salt either because you have boiled the veggies in salted water already. We never used recaito. What is commonly used is slices of raw onions instead. I personally skip them.
Enjoy!
Natasha
P
pascal
Guest
Re: pretty basic
Cooking is my hobby horse and my French 'heritage' suggests that bacalao should never boiled as it tends to get hard and not tenderized as you have indicated.
I managed after a few attempts to convince my dominican wife to her satisfaction. Having said this I appreciate the longer time it'll take to cook it but cooking is generally time consuming.
This is just a suggestion , have a go and see the difference.
Un saludo
Cooking is my hobby horse and my French 'heritage' suggests that bacalao should never boiled as it tends to get hard and not tenderized as you have indicated.
I managed after a few attempts to convince my dominican wife to her satisfaction. Having said this I appreciate the longer time it'll take to cook it but cooking is generally time consuming.
This is just a suggestion , have a go and see the difference.
Un saludo
N
Natasha
Guest
Re: pretty basic
Boiling the bacalao is the way we Dominicans have cooked it for ages. In my experience, I have never seen it get "hard" the way you describe it, hence my indication that it should almost "shread" using your hands. Perhaps this has to do with let it soak, I really don't know, but I assure you that it is not hard. Au contraire, the bacalao is very tough *before* you boil it. Also, because you have soaked it, it's not like you're going to boil it for hours. Trust me, I have eaten this salad ever since I can remember and the bacalao is nerver hard. We also have other dishes made with bacalao, for example, bacalao en escaveche. In order to prepare this dish, you have to again boil the bacalao - I have never known any other way. Perhaps you can share your methods?
Saludos a usted tambien!
Natasha
Boiling the bacalao is the way we Dominicans have cooked it for ages. In my experience, I have never seen it get "hard" the way you describe it, hence my indication that it should almost "shread" using your hands. Perhaps this has to do with let it soak, I really don't know, but I assure you that it is not hard. Au contraire, the bacalao is very tough *before* you boil it. Also, because you have soaked it, it's not like you're going to boil it for hours. Trust me, I have eaten this salad ever since I can remember and the bacalao is nerver hard. We also have other dishes made with bacalao, for example, bacalao en escaveche. In order to prepare this dish, you have to again boil the bacalao - I have never known any other way. Perhaps you can share your methods?
Saludos a usted tambien!
Natasha
N
Natasha
Guest
10 - 15 min. tops
That's how long it should boil and I should have specified that. And like I stated earlier, you should soak the bacalao preferably over night and if not, for at least 3 hours.
Saludos,
Natasha
That's how long it should boil and I should have specified that. And like I stated earlier, you should soak the bacalao preferably over night and if not, for at least 3 hours.
Saludos,
Natasha
A
arcoiris
Guest
Re: 10 - 15 min. tops
thank you very much for the feedback. I got my instructions just very generally, and there are a lot of Puerto Ricans around here, which is how the recaito got in. I am going to save Natasha's directions, remembering to only boil for 15 minutes. Natasha made very good points about which things to cube and which things not. Thanks for the advice not to put the yautia in. Can you advise me on good ways to use yautia? I got some at the store and don't know what to do with it. see I am trying to learn how to cook some things Dominiccan style so I can surprise my hubby with some good meals.
thank you very much for the feedback. I got my instructions just very generally, and there are a lot of Puerto Ricans around here, which is how the recaito got in. I am going to save Natasha's directions, remembering to only boil for 15 minutes. Natasha made very good points about which things to cube and which things not. Thanks for the advice not to put the yautia in. Can you advise me on good ways to use yautia? I got some at the store and don't know what to do with it. see I am trying to learn how to cook some things Dominiccan style so I can surprise my hubby with some good meals.
N
Natasha
Guest
Re: 10 - 15 min. tops
Well, we mostly "add" yautia to other dishes, for example to Sancochos, stews, or other more flavorful, hearty concoctions. Yautia is kind of bland that is why. Also, you can top yautia with scrambled eggs (Dominican style of course) or other saucy meets or even bacalao en escaveche, mentioned in the above post.
Perhaps another thing you can do is to make mashed yautia instead of mashed potatoes. I have actually made this for hubby since I can readily find yautia here in VA. Since the yautia is coarser than potato, it is more filling and hearty. I season it with olive oil instead of butter and a bit of pepper, voila! Hubby likes it.
The other day I had fried yautia at a Salvadoran restaurant. First time for me. There are also these Terra brand chips you can get at the supermarket. Now, you can actually snack on yautia chips. I should have come up with that idea and I could have become a millionaire! LOL, LOL, LOL.
Regards,
Natasha
Well, we mostly "add" yautia to other dishes, for example to Sancochos, stews, or other more flavorful, hearty concoctions. Yautia is kind of bland that is why. Also, you can top yautia with scrambled eggs (Dominican style of course) or other saucy meets or even bacalao en escaveche, mentioned in the above post.
Perhaps another thing you can do is to make mashed yautia instead of mashed potatoes. I have actually made this for hubby since I can readily find yautia here in VA. Since the yautia is coarser than potato, it is more filling and hearty. I season it with olive oil instead of butter and a bit of pepper, voila! Hubby likes it.
The other day I had fried yautia at a Salvadoran restaurant. First time for me. There are also these Terra brand chips you can get at the supermarket. Now, you can actually snack on yautia chips. I should have come up with that idea and I could have become a millionaire! LOL, LOL, LOL.
Regards,
Natasha
A
arcoiris
Guest
Re: we did it!
Last night we had a little dinner party. We made the bacalao salad. There was a Puerto Rican woman who had made it before, (her version, which was similar) and who helped. I brought the ingredients and she demonstrated what to do with them. She said not to use the recaito too. She didn't want to use vinegar, so the Columbian contributed lemon wedges to squeeze in for those who wanted, and that worked. It was delicious! A great summer salad. So, to recap the recipe we used:
One package, 1 lb., of bacalao (we used the filleted)
2 medium potatoes, could use more if you like
2 chayote
2 avocado
1 medium onion, minced
1 tomato diced
4 or 5 hard boiled eggs
a salad dressing of 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar
a little pepper
Soak the bacalao overnight; change the water in the morning; cook in fresh water for 10 - 15 min. (I think the tendency is to overcook it which can make it rubbery). At the same time you are cooking the bacalao you can boil the potatoes and chayote, which I cut in cubes that are under an inch, and the eggs. When the potatoes and chayote are done run cold water over them to chill them, like you do the hardboiled eggs. slice the eggs, and cut up the avocados. Toss it all together lightly. Add the dressing.
We discovered that the taste was even better a half hour later because the flavors had time to play with each other.
Did I forget anything?
Do Dominicans make bacalaitos?
Last night we had a little dinner party. We made the bacalao salad. There was a Puerto Rican woman who had made it before, (her version, which was similar) and who helped. I brought the ingredients and she demonstrated what to do with them. She said not to use the recaito too. She didn't want to use vinegar, so the Columbian contributed lemon wedges to squeeze in for those who wanted, and that worked. It was delicious! A great summer salad. So, to recap the recipe we used:
One package, 1 lb., of bacalao (we used the filleted)
2 medium potatoes, could use more if you like
2 chayote
2 avocado
1 medium onion, minced
1 tomato diced
4 or 5 hard boiled eggs
a salad dressing of 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar
a little pepper
Soak the bacalao overnight; change the water in the morning; cook in fresh water for 10 - 15 min. (I think the tendency is to overcook it which can make it rubbery). At the same time you are cooking the bacalao you can boil the potatoes and chayote, which I cut in cubes that are under an inch, and the eggs. When the potatoes and chayote are done run cold water over them to chill them, like you do the hardboiled eggs. slice the eggs, and cut up the avocados. Toss it all together lightly. Add the dressing.
We discovered that the taste was even better a half hour later because the flavors had time to play with each other.
Did I forget anything?
Do Dominicans make bacalaitos?