Home made fish fingers - baked, not fried

If you ask most British adults to name one of their favourite foods from childhood, I guarantee almost everyone will mention fish fingers. The taste is memorable, in that kid friendly bland type of way, flaky white fish fillet enveloped in seasoned breadcrumbs usually served alongside a plate of crisp chips and sweet tomato sauce, but it's more than that. Fish fingers are an ultimate comfort food, reminding us of happy, carefree days when our mums and dads would shout upstairs to us that dinner or tea was ready. If you were lucky like my family, every meal would be eaten round a table together, chatting and watching Coronation street or Eastenders between mouth fulls. The fish finger dinner would be waited for with great anticipation, "It's fish fingers tonight" mum would say, "yeahhhhh!" we would respond. If you think I'm waxing lyrical over a frozen convenience food not fit for gourmet consumption, think again: Behold, a paragraph taken directly from the mighty Nigel Slater in his beloved The kitchen Diaries:

The urge for fish fingers and peas gets the better of me. As I am waiting to pay in the corner shop, a total stranger turns to me and says, "Well, well, Nigel Slater with a bag of frozen peas!"...

As a young newlywed in the UK, I often bought these frozen gems. Our freezer shelf was so laughably small we could only fit one or two boxes of frozen entrees in there at a time and it frequently froze over resulting in as much as 30 minutes of hacking away just to get at our potential dinner. So, a steady rotation of crispy pancakes, 'gourmet' fish with toppings or fish fingers made the cut. Being quite adventurous for a young cook, I would remove the breadcrumb topping while still partly frozen, place the naked fish fillets in a baking tray and cover them with a sauce made from tomatoes and mushrooms or cream. The breadcrumbs could be successfully crumbled and mixed with a few other interesting additions such as paprika or even Parmesan if I was feeling flush. Lots of grated cheese on top, a grilling to render the 'pie' golden brown and crispy and I felt like Delia Smith.

These days I try to eliminate processed foods as much as possible from my diet, but this isn't false snobbery, it's a genuine love of cooking which allows me to feel more comfortable creating my own versions. I still fondly remember and love the tastes, even the crispy pancakes which came in a dizzying array of varieties, (chicken curry is the best, don't let anyone tell you any different, although minced beef could be a contender). 

So, when pondering what to do with some plain basa fillets, Neil developed that twinkle in his eye, "Home made fish fingers please", he pleaded. OK then.

These are easy enough to make, simply breaded and baked, but it's using the freshest, flakiest fish you can get and achieving just the right seasoning that makes them as good as their frozen counterpart. According to the website's nutritional information, paprika, salt and turmeric are all used in the breading, the turmeric helping to give the fingers their nice golden colour. I didn't use this spice, so mine seemed anaemic in comparison, but it didn't matter, they had just the right amount of soft fish and crisp crumb to be (almost) as good as we remember, although I'm sure many a nutritionist would say they are actually far, far better.

Recipe : Home made fish fingers and tartare sauce

2 large pieces of white flaky fish fillet such as basa, cod, haddock or halibut

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp mustard powder

black pepper

1 egg

1 cup of breadcrumbs (I used the Japanese panko variety)

Preheat the oven to 375oF

Make sure your fish is thoroughly defrosted (if frozen), dry and free of all bones if possible. Cut the fish into rectangles about 3 - 4 inches long and 1 inch wide.

Mix 1/2 tsp of paprika and salt into the flour on a plate or in a bowl and also add the 1/2 tsp mustard powder. Season with black pepper and mix well.

In another bowl, crack in the egg and beat until frothy.

On a third plate or bowl, pour in the breadcrumbs and season with the other 1/2 tsp of paprika and salt.

Take a piece of fish, coat in the flour, shaking off the excess, dip into the egg to coat well and then dip into the breadcrumbs, turning the fish over and spooning the crumbs over to ensure it is well breaded.

Continue with the other pieces.

Lay the fish out on a baking sheet, preferably over a rack and bake for about 20 - 25 minutes, turning halfway through until they are golden and crunchy. 

Tomato sauce is what we would usually have with fish fingers in my house, the sweet sour taste working well with just about anything, as always. Neil's ridiculous insistence of splashing vinegar over his always annoyed me. Why go to all the effort of making something crisp just to make it soggy again? But, in this case, in an effort to be more grown up and sophisticated, tartare seemed a more elegant choice. Stung by all those horrible little sachets found in services and McDonalds, most people are more used to a cloyingly tart and vinegary tartare than the genuine article, full of zingy capers and herbal, anise dill. This recipe is my version, not classic as I didn't have any gherkins around. 

Recipe : Tartare sauce

5 tbsp mayonnaise

2 tsp capers in brine

1 tbsp finely chopped dill or parsley

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cucumber, peeled and finely diced

or, 2 small pickled gherkins, finely diced