Salada de Bacalhau Cru (Portuguese Raw Salt Cod Salad)

Between my bacalhau à Brás and my bacalhau à Gomes de Sá (recipes on the site), you would think I had covered every angle of Portuguese salt cod, but this one is different from both because nothing gets cooked. Salada de bacalhau cru is the dish my avoa made on the laziest Sundays, when nobody wanted to stand over a stove, and it turns out to be one of the most refreshing things you can do with salt cod, especially in the warmer months.

The “cru” in the name means raw, but do not let that worry you: properly desalted bacalhau has already been cured through weeks of salting and drying, and once you have soaked out the excess salt, the flesh is tender enough to shred by hand and eat as-is, no cooking required.

It gets tossed with raw onion, a generous pour of good olive oil, a splash of vinegar, and parsley, then usually finished with black olives and a wedge of hard-boiled egg. The texture is closer to a delicate flaked fish salad than anything fishy or aggressive, since a good soak mellows the salt cod into something almost sweet.

This is the kind of dish that rewards planning rather than skill: start the soaking two days ahead, and the actual “cooking” takes ten minutes. If you already keep a piece of dried bacalhau in your pantry for other recipes on the site, this is the easiest possible way to use it.

Salada de Bacalhau Cru Recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes (plus 24-48 hours soaking) · Cook time: 0 minutes (no cooking) · Total: about 2 days, mostly soaking · Servings: 4 · Calories: ~240 per serving

Ingredients

• 1 lb dried, salted bacalhau (salt cod), preferably a thick loin piece
• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to taste
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup black olives (preferably Portuguese or Kalamata)
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
• 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed, optional
• Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Rinse the salt cod under cold water, then place it in a large bowl or container and cover generously with cold water. Refrigerate and soak for 24-48 hours, changing the water at least 3-4 times; taste a small piece after 24 hours and continue soaking until it is pleasantly salty rather than overwhelming.
2. Drain the cod well and pat dry. Remove any skin and bones, then shred the flesh into bite-sized flakes with your fingers or two forks.
3. In a large bowl, combine the shredded cod with the sliced onion. Let sit 10 minutes so the onion softens slightly and the flavors mingle.
4. Add the olive oil, vinegar, and parsley, and toss well to coat. Taste and adjust the oil, vinegar, or salt as needed; remember the cod itself still carries some salinity.
5. Fold in the chickpeas if using. Transfer to a serving platter and top with olives and quartered hard-boiled eggs.
6. Finish with a final drizzle of olive oil and a generous crack of black pepper. Serve at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

• Dried salt cod is sold in the US at Portuguese, Brazilian, Spanish, and Italian markets, and increasingly in the international aisle of larger grocery stores; look for thick, pale loin pieces rather than thin tail cuts, which shred less nicely.
• This dish uses cured, desalted fish, not sushi-grade raw fish; there is no substitute here for properly salted and dried bacalhau, since fresh raw cod is not safe or appropriate for this preparation.
• Taste the cod as it soaks. Desalting time varies a lot depending on the thickness of the piece and how heavily it was salted, so start checking after 24 hours rather than trusting the clock alone.
• Leftovers keep well covered in the fridge for a day, though the onion mellows further and the salad softens slightly, which some people (myself included) actually prefer.