Boiled Cod
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the cod head and shoulder in cold water with salt for 1 hour.
Scrape it clean and rub a little salt into the body.
Dust a cloth with flour and tightly wrap the fish.
Cook and serve
Place the wrapped fish in boiling water and cook for 20 minutes, or longer if very large.
Serve with oyster sauce or a sauce made of eggs, cream, and flour.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Cod head and shoulder
- Provides the main protein, which firms and turns opaque as it cooks in boiling water.
- Flour
- Dusted on the cloth, it helps the wrapping hold its shape during cooking.
The step that matters
Wrapping the fish tightly. A snug cloth keeps the fish's shape and holds in moisture while it simmers. Loose wrapping lets the flesh break apart and the cloth can float away.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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