Real fish fingers – really better!
Real fish fingers are easier to fry and better for you than you think. Homemade fish fingers are much better than processed ones because: you use real fish plus quality breadcrumbs (just blend your stale bread) and fresh oil for frying. There’s no freezing, no additives or preservatives in your fish fingers. And you do not need to count the calories!
The type of fish for your fish fingers
For the recipe I used about 500 g fresh monkfish tails, which made two dinners for four. Monkfish is super dense and meaty and might need a few seconds longer to fry through. Feel free to experiment with any kind of fresh fish available. If you have no access to fresh fish bites use frozen fish fillets. Make sure you let them defrost completely and rinse them with cold water before slicing.
Fish preparation
Slice your fish into 5-10 cm long pieces. If your fish pieces are thick, like monkfish tails, you might want to cut it lengthways first.
The breadcrumbs
Use some shop-bought breadcrumbs or make your own breadcrumbs by blending some stale bread in a blender. As simple as that!
Breadcrumbs mix
In a medium-sized mixing bowl or a pasta bowl add the following:
- Sweet 1 cup breadcrumb, 5 tablespoons panko (optional), 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika,
- Pungent a generous pinch of black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground coriander, a pinch of cayenne pepper,
- Salty 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt,
- Sour 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, a few drops of lemon juice (optional),
- Bitter 1/2 teaspoon turmeric.
Combine all the ingredients.
In a separate pasta bowl whisk 1 egg until frothy.
Dip each fish piece in the egg and then in the dry ingredients. Make sure the fish is covered with breadcrumbs well.
Shallow fry for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden-brown.
Serve hot with some lemon wedges and yoghurt to dip in. Real fish singers will go well with oven baked chips.
