It’s known that if fried well, it’s good and everyone likes it. The Codfish Frisceu is a typical Ligurian recipe prepared with a batter based on flour and sparkling water. In the 60s-70s it was made using an effervescent packet and was called acqua di viscì. The frisceu can be enriched with various ingredients such as lettuce, onion, zucchini, whitebait… basically anything or like in this recipe… Codfish Frisceu. You can find other Genoese recipes by reading Genoese traditional recipes.
Recipe from 11/10/2016 updated
Other recipes
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 3
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 6 oz desalted codfish
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 3/4 cup water (+ 1 packet of Idrolitina or Cristallina)
- 2 sprigs parsley
- 0.07 oz lemon zest (grated)
- 1 1/4 cups peanut oil
Tools
- Bowl
- Cutting Board
- Small Pot
- Absorbent Paper
- Jug
Steps
Start by preparing the sparkling water with the packet. Clean the codfish, wash it, remove the skin, and cut it into cubes. Pour the flour into a bowl, add the chopped parsley, pour in the water and mix well to avoid lumps. Using very sparkling water means you don’t need to add yeast.
Add the codfish pieces and mix them into the batter, do not add salt as the codfish is already salty and would absorb the oil while frying. The mixture should have an elastic consistency. Let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Pour the oil into a small deep pan and as soon as it’s hot, place spoonfuls of batter (the frisceu should float and turn by themselves while frying). Once they are colored, remove them and place them on paper to absorb the oil (mine remained dry, crispy, and not oily at all). Salt if needed, grate a little lemon zest on top, and eat them hot right away.
