BACALAO SALADO (SALT COD SALAD)

Bacalao Salado (Salt Cod Salad) image

Provided by Laura Manuel-Arrighi

Categories Salads

Number Of Ingredients 12

1/2 lb bacalao (dried salted cod), soaked, deboned and flaked or shredded
1 small won bok (chinese) cabbage, washed, drained and sliced to your liking
1 large manoa, romaine or iceberg lettuce, washed, drained and torn into bite size pieces
1 small bunch of watercress, chopped into bite size pieces. (optional)
1 red or round onion (spanish works well too!), sliced thinly
1 japanese cucumber, sliced thinly
2 roma tomatoes, sliced thinly
1 - 2 clove garlic, minced
juice of 2 limes, 1 lemon or cider vinegar (i use a mixture of 1 lemon plus some rice wine vinegar for a little sweetness), adjust to your liking
olive oil, enough to make a vinaigrette which is usually a 3 (oil) to 1 (acid) ratio. i use 3/4 cup olive oil and approximately 6 tbs. lemon/lime juice or cider vinegar
aloha or your favorite shoyu (soy sauce)
black pepper, freshly cracked or ground.

Steps:

1. Bacalao Preparation: Soak Bacalao in water for 30 minutes. Drain and repeat up to 2 more times, soaking for 2 hours the second time around. Taste a small piece of fish after second soak to check for saltiness. If it is still salty soak another hour in clean water (drain fish and refill water for 3rd soaking.) Taste again. Soak and drain for an hour until you've reached the desired level of saltiness.
2. Once rinsing is done and the fish is soft and tastes to your liking, place fish between a couple of clean dish towels. Press out excess water. Place pressed fish in large bowl and debone if needed. Flake or shred with a fork. Set aside.
3. Building The Salad: Place prepared salad ingredients (as instructed in the Ingredients section above) into bowl with flaked or shredded fish. (Excluding the garlic, olive oil, shoyu (soy sauce) and lemon juice.)
4. In a separate small bowl, whisk together lemon juice or vinegar, olive oil, garlic, shoyu (soy sauce) and freshly cracked black pepper. Pour vinaigrette over salad ingredients and toss to coat well. Taste and adjust accordingly. Serve and enjoy!