Hake Kokotxas Pilpil with clams – Restaurante Boroa

Where: Restaurante Boroa, Amorebieta – Etxano, near Bilbao, Basque Country

When: January 2015

Kokotxas are delicious parcels of meat full of gelatine, extracted from the chin of merluza (hake).

I got to know kokotxas in 2003 in the Basque country, and ever since I suffer from “kokotxas deprivation” syndrome.

So I grab every chance to enjoy a good kokotxas dish.

Kokotxas de Merluza al Pilpil con Almejas de Cuchillo.

This dish combines the precious kokotxas cooked the pil – pil way with clams (grooved carpet shells).

Pil – pil is a way of cooking a piece of gelatinous fish and seafood in the Basque country.

The fish is placed in a skillet on low heat with olive oil, garlic and chilli pepper and is shaken continuously.

It is thus cooked slowly while the gelatine escapes the flesh and emulsifies into a delicious sauce.