I always though Cod Pil Pil style was a dish from Galicia since it is so wide-spread and I could say almost all households cook this. When I visited Bilbao I found out that this recipe actually originates from there. I was really surprised but this is what happens when you get fixated in one idea just because you see it everyday. I must say that the cod pilpil I had there was so good and mouth watering and the people were ever so friendly and informative! If you can, visit Bilbao.
When I was a child I thought Cod pilpil was so complicated and tiresome to make. My mum would be shaking and shaking the pot and then would ask me to take over because her arms hurt and very seriously she’d say I could not stop or I’d ruin the dish. That was such a responsibility! I sometimes was able to get one of my brothers to take over. Everybody would take turns to shake that pot. It’s funny now I think about it.
It does sound like the recipe from hell but in reality is not like that. It is very simple and it really doesn’t take that long to prepare. And from the day my husband, who is from the Caribbean, suggested cocoyam instead of boiled potatoes to go with it, it was like a marriage made from Heaven. The creamy cocoyam melts with the creamy sauce. It is amazing. So if you can get hold of some cocoyam, I recommend it. And this is an example on how mixing things can end up in outstanding results.
So please, enjoy this recipe that comes all the way from my kitchen to you.
You can find the step by step video to this recipe here:
Cod Pil Pil Style
Credit: The Spaniard’s Kitchen
Ingredients
- Salted Cod (De-Salted for 48 hrs)
- 2 Cloves of Garlic, whole & peeled
- Dry Chilli
- Frying Oil
Directions
- Add oil to a pot (2/3 thickness of the fish).
- Heat it up and fry the garlic and chilly until brown.
- Turn off the heat, remove the garlic and chilli and allow the oil to cool down completely.
- We start heating up the oil (medium heat) and add the pieces of cod, skin up.
- Then we put the heat down and start shaking the pot vigorously (you can put the lid on if you see the oil is splashing about).
- What the shaking will do is mix the gelatine of the skin of the fish with the oil and they’ll both emulsify to form the sauce of this beautiful dish. It can take you 15 to 20 minutes of pure shaking (sometimes more. It depends).
- When the sauce is done, cover and allow the fish to cook. Maybe another 5 or 10 minutes. It will depend on the thickness of the cod.
- Serve hot with potatoes or eve cocoyam (which goes with it surprisingly good!) and enjoy!
The Spaniard's Kitchen 
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