Garlic, Potato and Almond Skordalia with Crisp Fried Cod
Inspired by techniques from America's Test Kitchen, Serious Eats and NYT Cooking.
Floury potatoes are riced and beaten with a blended paste of almonds, raw garlic and lemon, then loosened with olive oil into a silky dip. Fingers of cod in a light sparkling-water batter are fried until crisp and served alongside with lemon.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Cook the potatoes. Rinse the potato cubes, simmer until very tender, then let them steam dry.
- 2
Make the almond paste. Blend the almonds, garlic, lemon juice and cold water until smooth.
- 3
Finish the skordalia. Rice the potatoes, stir in the almond paste and beat in the olive oil and salt by hand.
- 4
Heat the oil. Heat the frying oil to 180 °C and dust the cod in flour.
- 5
Batter and fry. Whisk the cold batter, dip the cod and fry in batches until crisp and 63 °C inside.
- 6
Serve. Serve the hot fish with the skordalia, scattered with the parsley, and lemon wedges.
Storage
Skordalia keeps covered in the fridge for up to 3 days; let it sit at room temperature 30 minutes and loosen with a little water before serving. The fried cod is best eaten straight away. Cool leftovers in a shallow container and refrigerate within 2 hours (within 1 hour on a day above 32°C).
EU nutrition claims
- Source of protein: 4.1 g protein per 100 kcal, about 16% of energy (needs ≥ 12%)
- Low sugars: 1 g sugars per 100 g (limit ≤ 5 g)
Per 100 g of the finished dish, worked out from the nutrition per serving and the lowest likely cooked weight (about 152 g a serving), so the true values are, if anything, lower. Thresholds from the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
Free sugars
0.3 g per serving
0.6 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 1.2 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g, based on WHO free-sugar guidance (not endorsed by WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- medium saucepan
- colander
- rimmed baking tray
- potato ricer or masher
- blender or food processor
- large bowl
- medium bowl and whisk
- large heavy pot or deep fryer (at least 4 l)
- deep-fry or instant-read probe thermometer
- spider or slotted spoon
- wire rack set over a tray
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 520 kcal |
| Protein | 21.1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 37 g |
| of which sugars | 1.5 g |
| of which free sugars | 0.3 g |
| Fat | 32.5 g |
| of which saturates | 3.7 g |
| Fibre | 3.7 g |
| Salt | 1.52 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
4.1 g High Protein needs ≥ 5 g (20% of energy)
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
