Crispy fish burgers with all the trimmings

Method

1. Grate the garlic, pop it into a bowl with the rice wine and grated ginger. Cut the fish fillets to size, you will want somewhere around 100g per portion. Add them to the bowl and stir to cover with the rice wine, garlic and ginger. Let them marinate for about 30mins.

2. Now make the pickled cucumber. Warm 60ml rice or white wine vinegar in a small pan and add one tablespoon of caster sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Thinly slice a cucumber, pop it into a bowl and pour over the vinegar mix. Stir in one tablespoon of fresh chopped dill and a pinch of salt. Stir well to coat all the cucumber and set aside until you are ready to serve.

3. Pop the mayonnaise and all the other ingredients for the tartare sauce into a bowl and stir to combine. Keep the sauce in the fridge until you have cooked the fish and are assembling your burgers.

4. Peel a few potatoes per person and cut them into thick, chunky chips. I usually use red rooster potatoes for this. Blanch them in some boiling water for about three minutes before draining and tossing them in a tablespoon of rapeseed oil and some fine polenta. The polenta helps to make them nice and crispy, but don’t worry if you have not got any to hand. Cook the chips in an air fryer or oven at 200c until golden brown, about twenty to thirty minutes, tossing them halfway through to make sure they are golden and crisp all over.

5. When your chips have about fifteen minutes left to go, it is time to cook the fish. Heat one litre of sunflower oil to 180°C in a deep pan. While the oil is heating, toast your buns, chop the lettuce, and slice the tomato.

6. Put the cornflour on a plate and add some salt and freshly ground black pepper. If you have some onion salt, that adds some nice flavour to the batter, just use it instead of regular salt. Dredge the fish fillets one at a time in the cornflour.

7. Carefully lower them into the hot oil, one by one. Do not crowd the pan, you will need to do this in batches of two to three pieces at a time. Fry them for two minutes before removing them and allowing them to drain on a wire rack or some kitchen paper. Check the temperature of the oil between batches and make sure it gets back up to 180°C before adding more fish. You need it this hot to cook the fish properly and get a lovely crisp coating.

8. Lightly toast the brioche burger buns. Now give the fish another quick fry to get them beautifully golden and crisp, again at 180°C This second fry is crucial, but they will only need a minute or two at the most. Again, do this in batches and, as before, let them drain for a few minutes before assembling your burgers. Lay some lettuce and a big slice of tomato on the base of each bun, add some tartar sauce and the rest of the bun. Serve with your pickled cucumber on the side and chunky chips.