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Bacalhau a bras, a delicious lunch, dinner, or even brunch dish is from the classic restaurant Bota Alta, in Lisbon’s Bairro Alto district.
TL;DR (Quick-Answer Box)
- What it is: A legendary Portuguese comfort dish featuring shredded salt cod, hand-cut matchstick potatoes, and sautéed onions bound together in creamy, softly scrambled eggs.
- Why you’ll love it: It is the ultimate salty-savory-crispy hybrid. Perfect for a soul-warming lunch or dinner, it delivers authentic Lisbon restaurant flavor at home.
- How to make it: Fry potato matchsticks until golden, sauté onions with bay leaf, then toss with flaked cod and eggs until just set. Garnish with olives.
Bacalhau a Bras ~ Salt Cod, Potatoes & Eggs
This delicious lunch, dinner, or even brunch dish is from the classic restaurant Bota Alta, in Lisbon's Bairro Alto district.
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried salt cod, soaked overnight and cooked
- 7 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into matchstick-size strips (about 6 cups)
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 8 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves, divided
- 18 black or green olives
Instructions
- Flake the fish, discarding any bones.
- Heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy, large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes in batches and saute until crisp and golden, about 7 minutes per batch. Transfer the potatoes to paper towels to drain.
- Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to the same skillet. Add the onion and bay leaf and saute until golden, about 15 minutes. Discard the bay leaf.
- Reduce the heat to low. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the onion slices in the skillet. Mix in the fish and potatoes.
- Whisk the eggs, the 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl to blend. Add the egg mixture and 3 tablespoons of the parsley to the fish mixture in the skillet. Cook over medium heat until the eggs are softly set, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes.
- Transfer the eggs to a platter. Garnish with the olives and the remaining 1 tablespoon parsley.
An LC Original
View More Original RecipesNutrition
Serving: 1 portionCalories: 572 kcalCarbohydrates: 24 gProtein: 59 gFat: 26 gSaturated Fat: 5 gMonounsaturated Fat: 16 gTrans Fat: 1 gCholesterol: 363 mgSodium: 5738 mgFiber: 2 gSugar: 2 g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Recipe © 2018 David Leite. Photo © 2018 David Leite. All rights reserved.
Very good, being Portuguese, it was a delightful meal. I went a little heavy on the spices and limited the olives. Also, I used fresh-caught cod for the base.
Hey, Al, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Fresh-caught cod? Um, color me impressed. Did you catch it? I’m curious, though: How was the texture? Salt cod, when reconstituted, is firm and breaks into large flakes. Did your fresh fish hold together in flakes as you mixed it with the potatoes and eggs, or did it break down? I’d love to hear how your tweak turned out. Bom proveito!