Ingredients
Fish
- 500 gcod tongues
Scrunchions
- 150 gsalt pork or fatty bacon, finely diced
Coating
- 100 gplain flour
- 1 tspsalt
- ½ tspblack pepper
- ½ tspbaking powder
To serve
- lemon wedges
- malt vinegar
Directions
- Rinse the tongues, pat them thoroughly dry, and trim off any dark membrane.
- They are not tongues at all. They are the small gelatinous muscle from the underside of the throat, cut out when the fish is split, and Newfoundland children cut them from the day’s catch on the wharf and sold them by the bucket, a job known as tongue-cutting.
- Render the diced salt pork slowly in a heavy pan until the fat runs freely and the pieces turn crisp and golden. These are the scrunchions.
- Lift the scrunchions out with a slotted spoon and set them aside, leaving all the fat in the pan.
- Fry the tongues in that pork fat rather than in oil. The fat is half the dish and it is what makes this a Newfoundland plate rather than simply fried fish.
- Mix the flour with the salt, pepper and baking powder, and dredge the tongues in it, shaking off the excess.
- Fry in the hot fat for 3 to 4 minutes a side, until golden and crisp at the edges.
- They should be crisp outside and still slightly gelatinous and yielding within. Cooked through hard they turn rubbery and lose the exact texture people eat them for.
- Drain briefly, scatter the scrunchions over the top, and serve with lemon and malt vinegar.
Technique
- The baking powder in the dredge is a small thing that lifts the coating and keeps it light.
- Buy them fresh if you possibly can. Frozen tongues weep water and are much harder to crisp.
- The scrunchions are not a garnish. Salt pork and cod together is the whole Newfoundland idiom.
Substitutions
- Streaky bacon in place of salt pork, which is less salty and works.
- Cod cheeks, which are handled in exactly the same way.
Variations
- With a squeeze of lemon and nothing else.
- Served alongside fish and brewis.
- Dredged in cornmeal rather than flour for a coarser crust.
History
A Newfoundland outport tradition: children cut tongues from the day’s catch on the wharf and sold them, a job known as tongue-cutting.
Frequently asked questions
What is Cod tongues?
Cod tongues is a snack from Canada: fried gelatinous throat muscles of cod, served with crisp pork scrunchions. A Newfoundland outport tradition: children cut tongues from the day’s catch on the wharf and sold them, a job known as tongue-cutting.
How long does Cod tongues take to make?
Cod tongues takes 15 min of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Cod tongues?
Yes, within limits. Streaky bacon in place of salt pork, which is less salty and works. Cod cheeks, which are handled in exactly the same way.
What is the most important thing to get right in Cod tongues?
Fry the tongues in that pork fat rather than in oil. The fat is half the dish and it is what makes this a Newfoundland plate rather than simply fried fish.
