Seafood Made Simple: Aishling Moore's ultimate fish finger sandwich

Aishling Moore's ultimate fish finger sandwich

I’m quite sure Bird's Eye fish fingers were my very first taste of seafood. 

A successful introduction, I wasn’t an adventurous eater growing up and would have been cautious about sampling new things and especially trepidatious about eating fish. 

Maybe it was their fabulously crunchy and golden-brown exterior, or the sweet baked beans beside them but more likely the fact that this was a plate of food that I was allowed to add tomato ketchup to.

Still very much a fan, a fish finger supper is always something I crave. Especially in these darker months.

During the pandemic we pivoted and turned Goldie into a little boutique fishmongers' and sandwich deli. 

We made one fried fish sandwich a day, making the most of the offcuts of the prime fillets. 

A ling Banh Mi, langoustine Po’ boy, buttermilk fried pollock sandos and a fish finger sandwich with crushed herby peas and a classic tartar sauce. 

This weekend I’m sharing our recipe for the ultimate fish finger sandwich. 

Here I’ve used some spanking fresh john dory fillets, but you can use any fresh fish you can find available.

For great bread I head to Chris Fahey’s Wildflour, Innishannon. 

It's something of a Sunday morning routine, grab the dog, jump in the car and head to Wildflour. 

Flaky sausage rolls, laminated pain-au-chocolate and the chewy sugared cinnamon rolls – my favourite! 

I’ll always pick up a loaf or two of sourdough when I’m there. One to enjoy on the day, the other to stash in the freezer for after service toast or sandwiches. 

Chris uses Wildfarmed flour in his bakery. A B-Corporation-certified organisation, it only works with farmers that prioritise soil and ecosystem health. 

A regeneratively farmed flour grown without the use of pesticides with real provenance.

The Ultimate Fish-Finger Sandwich

recipe by:Aishling Moore

Here I’ve used some spanking fresh john dory fillets, but you can use any fresh fish you can find available.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 25 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 45 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• For the crushed peas:

• 400g frozen peas

• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil

• 2 tbsp butter

• 1 shallot, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 sprigs mint

• 1 bunch parsley

• ½ lemon, juiced

• Sea salt

• Freshly cracked black pepper

• For the fish fingers:

• 400g flat fish fillets

• 90g Plain flour

• 1 egg

• 200ml milk

• 150g Panko breadcrumbs

• For the tartar sauce

• 3 tbsp mayonnaise

• 1tsp Dijon mustard

• 1 tbsp capers. finely chopped

• 70g gherkins, chopped

• Zest and juice of ½ lemon

• 1tb chopped dill

Method

1. To make the tartar sauce combine the mayonnaise, mustard, capers, gherkins, dill and the lemon juice and zest in a small bowl and mix well.

2. For the crushed peas heat a medium sized saucepan on low heat. Sweat the diced shallot and minced garlic in the butter and rapeseed oil for 5 minutes until softened. Add the frozen peas, season with salt and black pepper. Cook for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and pulse a couple of times using a handheld blender. Being careful not to purée the peas. Add the lemon juice, chopped mint and parsley and mixwell. Taste and season. Set aside.

3. To prepare the fish fingers, remove the skin from the and fish and cut into 2cm x 5inch fingers. This should give you approx. 16 fingers of fish.

4. Pre-heat a deep fat fryer to 180° Celsius. Beat the egg and the milk and place in a small bowl. Place both the flour and panko breadcrumbs in a small bowl each. Working in batches of five at a time toss the pieces of fish through the flour first, next through the milk and egg mixture and finally through the panko breadcrumbs shaking off the excess flour, egg and milk and breadcrumbs at each stage.

5. Working in batches when frying the fish, I do no more than 6 pieces at a time.

6. Fry for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle with sea salt.

7. To assemble place a generous tablespoon of the crushed peas on one slice of bread followed by 4 fish fingers per sandwich top with tartar sauce and sandwich together.

Fish tales

To achieve a beautifully coated fish finger I like to blend a percentage of the panko breadcrumbs to ensure a more evenly coated result.-

The tartar sauce, fish fingers and crushed peas can all be made ahead of time,

These fish fingers can baked in a preheated oven or shallow fried in a pan if you’d rather not deep fry.

Do serve the crushed peas warm.

These fish fingers will also freeze well provided the fish is fresh and well coated in the breadcrumbs.

For a proper chip shop feel season with salt and malt vinegar.