Sweet Potato Bacalhau Croquettes
There's nothing "fishy" about these Bacalhau/Bakkeljauw Sweet Potato Croquettes! They are seriously yummy!
When it comes to choosing between salted fish or fresh fish most people will go for fresh. Which is understandable, but growing up with salted dried cod or Bacalhau/Bakkeljauw I’m instantly reminded of how much more flavour you get from this salted fish.
I came up with this recipe when I saw my mom prepping Bacalhau for a dish. I had some leftover sweet potato and white potato mash from the night before (you can also make a "fresh" mash, see recipe below) so I asked my mom if I could use some of the fish that she had soaked for a day. Yes, you read that right. Bacalhau can be quite labouring when using it for a recipe, therefore it is best to prepare the fish a day in advance. However, the combination of these salty flavours with the sweetness of the potato results in such a delicious snack that it's worth the slaving in the kitchen. Give it a try but do soak that fish first, otherwise your dish will taste extremely salty!
Make it rain Parmesan Cheese!
Sweet Potato Bacalhau Croquettes
- Prep: 1 day for soaking the salted fish
- Total: 60 min
Fish
Ingredients
Note: this recipe makes 13 croquettes.
For the Sweet Potato Bacalhau/Bakkeljauw Croquettes
- 100 gr de-salted Bacalhau/Bakkeljauw
- 1 small sweet potato
- 1 small white potato
- 1 garlic
- 1 spring onion
- 1 tbsp parsley
- 1 Madame Jeanette (I like the aroma and heat of MJ, but use as much as you can handle or leave it out and add a dash of chili pepper instead)
- half of a shallot
- 1 tsp Pimenton (smoked pepper powder)
- 1 tsp of lemon juice
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 egg (beaten)
- salt & pepper to taste
- sunflower oil for frying
- finely grated Parmesan cheese
For the Spicy Sriracha Mayo:
- 3 tbsp Hellmanns mayonaise (or whatever brand you like)
- 1 tbsp Sriracha sauce
- 1 tbsp of lemon juice
Instructions
- De-salt the Bacalhao/Bakkeljauw by placing it in cold water for 24 hours and changing the water occasionally. Do this 3 times (it’s best to prepare your fish a day in advance). After you've desalted the fish, squeeze out all the excess water and place it in a bowl.
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Place the cubes in water and cook until the potato feels soft enough to make a mash. With a fork mash your potatoes and let it cool off. If you have some leftover sweet potato mash you can use that.
- Prepare the rest of the ingredients. Grate the garlic, cut the spring onions, parsley, shallot and Madame Jeanette pepper (wear some gloves if you've never worked with this pepper before, remove the seeds and cut it in small pieces!). You can also use your food processor.
- When all the ingredients are prepped place them in a bowl. Add the mash, Bacalhau, lemon juice and Pimenton. Mix well and check for seasoning. Put a little bit of oil on your hands and roll medium sized balls/croquettes. Pop them in the fridge for 15 min so they can firm up.
- After they've set, roll the croquettes into flour, egg and Panko breadcrumbs. For a thicker layer you can repeat this process.
- Deep fry the croquettes until they are golden brown and place them on some kitchen towel paper paper before serving.
You can serve these Sweet Potato & Bacalhau Croquettes with my spicy mayo, a sweet chili sauce or even ketchup. Sprinkle with some grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy!
If you make my recipes please tag me in them and use #thespicedchickpearecipes. I'd love to see what you've made!