Just before the weekend, all readers who cook ask themselves this eternal question: what are we going to eat? To inspire you, The Press suggests a recipe that will make your mouth water.
Ricardo uses whipped egg whites in the preparation of his acras, which gives them a lighter, airier texture than usual. The recipe makes a lot: 50, but that’s just as well since they freeze without any problems.
Preparation: 40 minutes
Cooking: 30 minutes
Yield: 50
Ingredients
- 250 g salted and dried cod, cut into pieces
- 1 small hot pepper *
- 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 6 green onions, finely chopped
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) fresh parsley, chopped
- 10 ml (2 tsp) fresh thyme
- The grated zest of 2 limes
- The juice of 3 limes
- 500 ml (2 cups) flour
- 15 ml (1 tbsp) baking powder
- 180 ml (3/4 cup) milk
- 6 egg whites, beaten until stiff
- Salt and pepper
Preparation
- Cover the cod with cold water and leave to desalinate overnight in the refrigerator.
- The next day, place the cod in a saucepan and cover with fresh water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and poach for 20 minutes.
- Let cool. Crumble the fish and remove any bones, if necessary.
- Preheat the fryer oil to maximum.
- Remove the seeds and white membranes. Chop the flesh very finely.
- When chopping the pepper, wear rubber gloves.
- In a bowl, combine chili pepper, garlic, green onions, parsley, thyme, lime zest and juice.
- Add the cod and mix well. Adjust the seasoning.
- In a bowl, mix the flour and baking powder.
- Add to the previous mixture.
- Add the milk and mix.
- Fold in half of the egg whites, then the other half, gently folding in.
- Using a tablespoon, drop a small ball of dough, about 15 ml (1 heaping tbsp) into the oil.
- Fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Turn halfway through cooking.
- Taste an acra to check if the dough is salty enough, adjust if necessary then continue cooking the other acras.
- To obtain an even color, fry about 6 to 8 fritters at a time; drain them on absorbent paper.
- Serve immediately as an appetizer with lime wedges and a glass of ti-punch (pour a little cane syrup over a lime slice in a small glass, add rum and leave to macerate for a few minutes before drinking).
* You can replace the hot pepper with Tabasco or Sambal Oelek.
Published on lapresse.ca on January 23, 2017.