Pasteis de Bacalhau - Portuguese Cod Fish Fritters

Are they a pain to make and take a tremendous amount of time? YES! But so well worth it though. My tween has fun helping me out forming the fritters even though she has YET to get the hang of it. She keeps trying though and that is all I care. The first time the little one tried them, we were actually in Portugal and she could not get enough of them.  She was barely a year old, sitting on her high chair and her patient cousin and GodMother feeding her piece by piece.

INGREDIENTS

500 gr Salt dry cod fish
20 medium size potatoes
6 eggs
6 egg yolks
7 garlic cloves finely minced
3 medium onion finely chopped
2 bunch of chopped parsley
salt & black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. One or two days prior to doing the fritters place cod fish in a bucket with half water half milk and let it stand in a cool place or fridge
2. In a pot boil the cod fish for about 20 minutes, check if it needs salt
3. Remove cod and add the clean and half cut potatoes in the same water until potatoes are nicely cooked
4. Remove all skin and bones from cod fish and pass it through a food mill
5. Place the cod in a large bowl
6. Mash the potatoes also through the food mill
7. Place the potatoes in same bowl as cod fish
8. Add all remainder ingredients
9. Form the little cakes by using two soup spoons (see photos below)
10. In a freezer safe dish place all cod cakes without touching each other
11. Place them in the freezer for about 2 hours, then remove and insert them in freezer safe containers or plastic bag
12. When ready to serve, heat oil and fry the cod cakes (do not defrost them) until reaching golden color
13. Can be served warm or cold

SUGGESTIONS:

The reason to freeze the cod fritters/cakes is that when frying them they will keep much more intact and will not open up.