FISH FINGER

by Chef Alan Bird

SERVES: 4 PREPARATION: 15mins COOKING: 20mins

Everyone had a fish finger sandwich as a youngster. When chef Alan Bird was at The Goring Hotel, he used to make them every Friday for his staff before adapting the idea and creating a posh fish finger sandwich for the bar menu - proving an instant hit.

Lured to Cornwall by childhood memories of Cornish pasties, saffron buns, crab sandwiches and Cornish ice cream, Alan is a huge ambassador of the county’s wealth of wonderful ingredients. Having worked at The Ivy restaurant and been personal chef to Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, it’s only natural that he ended up running his own business catering for VIP clients (Alan Bird Food Etc Ltd). Long-time friends with The Seafood Restaurant’s Stephane Delourme, Alan also worked on the opening of Trevisker’s Kitchen with Henk De Villiers Ferreira. Having created dishes for Sharp’s Secret Bar pop-up, Alan believes that good beer can challenge the best of wines.

ingredients
method
beer pairing
  • 400g cod fillet, skinned and cut into thin strips (or pollock, hake, plaice, lemon sole).
  • 2 eggs
  • 100ml milk
  • 100g flour
  • 100g breadcrumbs
  • 500g vegetable oil
  • 200g frozen peas
  • 15g mint leaves
  • 50g butter
  • 50ml vegetable stock
  • 8 slices of sourdough bread
  • 30ml mayonnaise
  • 40g gherkins, drained & finely diced 
  • 40g capers, drained and finely chopped
  • 1 small shallot, peeled, finely diced 
  • 3g flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • Seasoning
  1. Break the eggs into a shallow tray and whisk in the milk.
  2. Place the flour in a separate tray and season. Then place the breadcrumbs in another tray.
  3. Dip the strips of fish into the flour, dust off the excess, then dip into the egg mix.
  4. Shake off the excess and place into the breadcrumbs, coating the fish completely. Place these into the fridge to firm up.
  5. Make the tartare sauce by mixing the mayonnaise, chopped shallot, gherkins, capers and parsley. Taste, season and put to one side.
  6. Put a small pan of boiling water on the stove, adding any trimmings from the chopped shallot. Once boiling add the peas, boil for 2 minutes then remove from the heat and add the mint leaves.
  7. Allow to cool slightly before draining off any excess water, keeping this to one side to add back if needed.
  8. Blitz half of the peas and mint in a food processor or with a stick blender until smooth. Then add the other half of the peas and pulse to give them a rough chop. Add 10g of soft butter and test for seasoning.
  9. Heat the vegetable oil in a fryer (or in a pan that holds twice the volume of the oil) to 190C. Test with a temperature probe, then carefully lower the cod strips into the oil and cook until golden brown. Remove from the oil and drain on some kitchen roll.
  10. Butter the slices of sourdough bread and spread the pea purée onto four of them.
  11. Place the fish strips on top of the pea purée. Spread the
  12. tartare sauce on the other four slices and place on top to make the sandwich.
  13. Carefully cut these into halves and serve immediately.

Enjoy with a Pravha or Offshore Pilsner. If you haven't got access to one of those, try with a Helles-style Lager or Dry Hopped Lager.

ingredients
  • 400g cod fillet, skinned and cut into thin strips (or pollock, hake, plaice, lemon sole).
  • 2 eggs
  • 100ml milk
  • 100g flour
  • 100g breadcrumbs
  • 500g vegetable oil
  • 200g frozen peas
  • 15g mint leaves
  • 50g butter
  • 50ml vegetable stock
  • 8 slices of sourdough bread
  • 30ml mayonnaise
  • 40g gherkins, drained & finely diced 
  • 40g capers, drained and finely chopped
  • 1 small shallot, peeled, finely diced 
  • 3g flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • Seasoning
method
  1. Break the eggs into a shallow tray and whisk in the milk.
  2. Place the flour in a separate tray and season. Then place the breadcrumbs in another tray.
  3. Dip the strips of fish into the flour, dust off the excess, then dip into the egg mix.
  4. Shake off the excess and place into the breadcrumbs, coating the fish completely. Place these into the fridge to firm up.
  5. Make the tartare sauce by mixing the mayonnaise, chopped shallot, gherkins, capers and parsley. Taste, season and put to one side.
  6. Put a small pan of boiling water on the stove, adding any trimmings from the chopped shallot. Once boiling add the peas, boil for 2 minutes then remove from the heat and add the mint leaves.
  7. Allow to cool slightly before draining off any excess water, keeping this to one side to add back if needed.
  8. Blitz half of the peas and mint in a food processor or with a stick blender until smooth. Then add the other half of the peas and pulse to give them a rough chop. Add 10g of soft butter and test for seasoning.
  9. Heat the vegetable oil in a fryer (or in a pan that holds twice the volume of the oil) to 190C. Test with a temperature probe, then carefully lower the cod strips into the oil and cook until golden brown. Remove from the oil and drain on some kitchen roll.
  10. Butter the slices of sourdough bread and spread the pea purée onto four of them.
  11. Place the fish strips on top of the pea purée. Spread the
  12. tartare sauce on the other four slices and place on top to make the sandwich.
  13. Carefully cut these into halves and serve immediately.
beer pairing

Enjoy with a Pravha or Offshore Pilsner. If you haven't got access to one of those, try with a Helles-style Lager or Dry Hopped Lager.