Hi Everyone,
All right, brace yourself, today I am going to ask you to do something that may go against a practice you have been doing all your life, and one that you would have seen done by parents and grandparents long before you ever started cooking. At first, I too was skeptical, but it works, it really does work. Next time you want to cook salt fish, don’t boil it or soak it in boiling water to remove the salt, rather, soak it in regular cold tap water for 12 – 24 hours and you will be rewarded with perfectly de-salted salt fish that is tender, and easy to flake, to prepare in a variety of ways.
In February of this year, friends of mine were visiting from Canada – Guyanese immigrants – Roy and Monica. I fondly refer to them as RoMo. Roy is a cook-man, and in Guyanese parlance, it means that he can cook, he likes to cook, he boasts of his cooking. Whenever RoMo visits and Roy starts talking about food and his cooking exploits (which he does often), I keep my mouth shut and listen; the cook-man is in full form!
I cooked dinner for them one night when they were here in Barbados. They love okra as much as I do, so okra and salt fish was one of the many dishes on the menu. In an earlier discussion about the delights of salt fish, Roy revealed that a friend of his in Canada (Guyanese of Chinese descent) advised him not to boil the salt fish, instead, to soak it in cold water overnight. According to Roy, his friend said, “When you boil the salt fish, it does mek it hard, hard, man.” It’s true, don’t you find? Picking up on this, and being open-minded about such things (yes, I just complimented myself), I decided that when I cooked the fried salt fish and okra for RoMo, that I would soak the salt fish in cold water. I did and it was a revelation. Since then I have never, ever boiled or soaked salt fish in boiling water to remove the salt. And I don’t think I will ever do so again.
Cooking is all about planning and given that I knew what I was making for the dinner with RoMo, I soaked the salt fish at 5 o’ clock the afternoon, the day before the dinner. Over the period of time – 22 hours – I changed the water 4 times. It was not a big deal given that I was puttering about. When it came time to tend to the salt fish, I drained it well and picked up tender fillets of fish that I had to handle gently. The fish flaked easily and when I tasted it, I realized that if I had let it soak longer, I may have had to add back some salt to the fish when cooking. However, I didn’t, it had just enough salt making it perfectly seasoned. I patted the fish dry and proceeded to cook the fried salt fish and okra. When RoMo arrived for dinner, I thanked Roy for his advice on the soaking of the salt fish and expressed my delight and amazement at the transformation of the fish and the texture. Roy’s response was tantamount to this: I know what I am telling you… Stick with me kid and you will reach new heights in cooking!
(Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
While this cold-water method of soaking the salt fish might seem foreign to us in the Caribbean, this is the method that is employed by a lot of countries that also use salt fish in their cuisine – Spain, Italy, Greece, France, Portugal, Canada, to name a few.
So here is how this thing works. The cold tap water rehydrates the fish allowing the meat to relax, open its pores and let the salt out. The reason it is advised the water be changed 3 – 4 times is so that the fresh water can ‘pull’ more of the salt away from the fish. Think of this rehydration process as the same as when we soak dried peas/beans overnight to bring them back to their plump state.
Because the fish has gotten the chance to relax and release the salt, the flesh becomes soft and tender, thus facilitating easy flaking. Using this cold-water method of rehydration and de-salting also means that you can easily test (by tasting) the fish to know when it has retained just enough salt for seasoning, or to taste. It makes no sense to completely remove all the salt of the fish to then have to add back salt, this would alter the taste and flavour.
Just as how dried peas and beans take in water to swell, so too you will notice that the fish becomes heavy with water, to remove the excess water, pat the fish dry by pressing it gently between thick paper towels. After this stage, you will notice that the fish has a sharp fish flavour, to remove the sharpness, put the fish in a bowl – whole, chunked, or 
flaked – and pour boiling water over it for 10 minutes only. Drain and pat dry. Now prepare and cook your fish anyway you like.
As I have said before, cooking is about planning so while you may look at the amount of time the salt fish needs to be soaking and groan, don’t. In many ways, it is like a set it and forget it kind of thing. Different brands and varieties of salt fish differ in their degrees of saltiness so the amount of time for soaking can vary. For me, the best thing about this method is the convenience of having already de-salted salt fish at hand to cook whenever I feel like it because the rehydrated fish keeps well in the refrigerator for weeks! Here’s what I do. I buy 2 pounds of salt fish and soak it for 24 hours, sometimes more, drain and pat dry. I leave some pieces as large chunks and flake the rest, put them into airtight containers and
refrigerate them. Whenever I want to cook anything with salt fish, I take out what I need, bring it up to room temperature, pour the boiling water over the fish for 10 minutes and I am ready to cook the salt fish any which way I like, from Buljol to fritters, salads and more.
I figured that if this cold-water de-salting works for salt fish that it might work for salted pigtails and salt beef too. You know what, it works the same way. The cold water soaking removes most of the salt, leaving just enough to season whatever dish I am going to use it in. Before soaking, cut the meat into pieces for cooking.
The thing to remember is the longer you leave the salt fish, pigtails or salt beef soaking in the cold water, the more salt it removes. And don’t forget to change the water a few times, that is just as important.
Try it and let me know what you think.
Cynthia
