Smoked Mackerel Fish Fingers
Smoked Mackerel Fish Fingers are so easy to make yet feel like a real treat.
The crunchy breadcrumb coating surrounds a soft, rich mix of potato and smoked mackerel flavoured with lemon and spring onion.
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Who doesn’t love fish fingers? For me, they’re one of the great comfort foods.
But I’ve recently turned away from the mass-produced frozen ones and started making my own. And not with the usual cod or haddock either.
Adapting a recipe for smoked mackerel fishcakes that I’ve used for years, my Smoked Mackerel Fish Fingers are better than any shop-bought ones.
COD OR SMOKED MACKEREL?
After decades of over-fishing, cod has recently been brought back from the brink. However, with fishing methods destructive of the marine environment still prevalent, we may not be out of the woods yet. As it seems unlikely we can ever go back to our over reliance on cod, we need to get used to alternatives.
For me, when it’s really fresh, mackerel is just about my favourite fish. It’s also an oily fish high in omega-3 fatty acids which are thought to provide health benefits.
We’re advised to eat two portions of fish per week, one of which should be oily, so mackerel seemed a good choice for my fish fingers.
Mackerel from the north east Atlantic which has been certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council will carry the blue MSC label. However, away from the coast, spanking fresh mackerel isn’t that easy to find. Happily, quality smoked mackerel is widely available and pretty economical too.
Because smoked mackerel has quite a strong flavour, I mix it with mashed potato in my Smoked Mackerel Fish Fingers. I prefer plain smoked mackerel, but you can use peppered or any of the other flavours now available.
FISH CAKES OR FISH FINGERS?
I’ve been making smoked mackerel fish cakes for years, and very good they are too. Most often, I make large ones, two per person, for a main course. But I’ve also made mini ones to have as a starter and it was these that inspired me to make fish fingers instead.
With mini fish cakes you get plenty of crunchy coating. The larger fish cakes, on the other hand, don’t have such a good balance between soft centre and crispy outside. And isn’t one of the joys of a fish finger precisely that combination?
SHAPING THE SMOKED MACKEREL FISH FINGERS
The easiest way to make the fish finger shapes is to spread your mixture (seasoned mashed potato, spring onion, lemon zest, parsley and flaked mackerel) onto a tray or board. Lining it with cling film first will make things easier later.
I pat it out into a rectangle, cover with another piece of cling film and then leave in the fridge until completely cold. This will firm up the mixture and make it easy to form into fish fingers.
After an hour or so I remove the top layer of cling film and flip the rectangle onto a clean tray.
After taking off the final bit of cling film you can then cut the rectangle into 22 fish fingers.
As you can see from the image above, I didn’t do this very precisely! I’ve got fat ones at one end and diddy ones at the other.
But you can steal a bit from the chunky ones and add to the spindly ones as you go. They all looked fine in the end anyway, once they’d been coated.
FLOUR – EGG – BREADCRUMB
Who’d have thought making what is usually thought of as a low grade, processed food would involve a fancy French cooking term? But that’s the case with my Smoked Mackerel Fish Fingers as what we’re going to do is pané them.
All pané means is that we dip each fish finger first into seasoned plain flour, then beaten egg and finally breadcrumbs. I like to lighten my eggs with a little water as it’s less sticky to work with and add a little salt, black pepper and garlic powder to the breadcrumbs.
For my breadcrumbs I just use ordinary crumbs, some white, some wholemeal.
My homemade bread has a very crunchy crust and the ends can be a little too hard if cut thinly. So I turn them into crumbs and keep in the freezer, adding more as and when I have them. With so much bread being wasted these days, if people really can’t help overbuying (I’d be surprised if home bakers waste their delicious product), making excess into crumbs or croutons then freezing is the next best thing.
And if you’re one of those people who throws bread away but also shells out around £12 a kilo for ready made breadcrumbs? You’re a grade A numpty.
FRYING
Once your fish fingers are floured, egged and crumbed, it’s time to cook them.
I think shallow frying is best and use olive oil. I cook a few at a time then transfer them to a low oven to keep warm while I fry the rest.
Because the filling is already cooked and the Smoked Mackerel Fish Fingers are not very thick, by the time the outside is crispy and golden the inside should be heated through. A few minutes in the oven while the rest are cooking will ensure they’re piping hot.
If I was eating cod or haddock fish fingers, then there’s nothing I like more than creamy mashed potato to accompany them. But, as my Smoked Mackerel Fish Fingers already include potato, I don’t think we need more.
For balanced nutrition and a great crunchy contrast, I like a pile of coleslaw.
For my homemade coleslaw, besides the usual white cabbage, carrot and onion, I like to add red cabbage, thinly sliced peppers and celery. I make a dressing of equal parts mayonnaise and natural yogurt. This is just as creamy as the mayo-only version, but much lighter and fresher-tasting. A little garlic and parsley is good too.
You can reheat any leftover fish fingers in a low oven. For the ultimate fish finger sandwich, put a few Smoked Mackerel Fish Fingers between two thick slices of buttered, homemade crusty bread.
Heaven!
Smoked Mackerel Fish Fingers
Smoked Mackerel Fish Fingers are so easy to make yet feel like a real treat. The crunchy breadcrumb coating surrounds a soft, rich mix of potato and smoked mackerel flavoured with lemon and spring onion.
Ingredients
- 300 g potatoes peeled and in medium chunks
- salt to taste
- 10 g butter
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 small lemon, zest only
- 3 medium spring onions finely chopped
- 1 tbsp parsley finely chopped
- 250 g smoked mackerel (approx 4 fillets) skinned, boned & flaked
- 2 tbsp plain flour seasoned with salt & pepper
- 1 large egg beaten with a little cold water
- 100 g fine breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp garlic powder optional
- olive oil for shallow frying
Instructions
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Put the prepared potatoes in a saucepan, cover with cold water, season with salt then bring to the boil. Simmer until the potatoes are cooked (20-25 minutes). Drain then leave in the colander for few minutes - this will help to dry them.
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Mash the potatoes with the butter and black pepper.
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Stir in the lemon zest, spring onions and parsley and mix well.
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Fold in the smoked mackerel flakes, trying not to break it up too much. Taste and add more seasoning if necessary.
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Line a tray with cling film then tip the potato and fish mixture onto it. Spread the mixture into a rectangle approximately 22cm x 16cm. Cover with another piece of cling film and leave in the fridge for at least an hour.
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When the mixture is firm, remove the top layer of cling film and flip the rectangle onto a chopping board or another tray. Remove the other piece of cling film.
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Divide the rectangle into 2 equal pieces horizontally so you have 2 rectangles each 22cm x 8cm.
Cut 11 fingers, each 2cm wide, from each rectangle to give you 22 fish fingers.
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Put the seasoned flour on one plate, the beaten egg and water in a shallow bowl and the breadcrumbs on another plate. Add some salt, pepper & garlic powder to the breadcrumbs if liked.
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Preheat the oven to 100C with a baking tray inside.
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Take a fish finger and, handling carefully so as not to break it, coat first in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Set side on a plate or tray until all the fish fingers have been coated in the same way.
Tip: if you want to make in advance, the fish fingers can be put in the fridge until ready to cook or frozen at this stage.
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Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and cook 3 - 6 fish fingers at a time, turning them over until nicely browned on the outside and hot in the middle. As each batch of fish fingers is cooked, transfer to the preheated baking tray while you finish the rest, adding more olive oil as needed.
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Serve hot with salad, vegetables or crunchy coleslaw.
Cooled leftovers can be kept in the fridge for 1 day and reheated in a low oven for 10-12 minutes. Great in a fish finger sandwich with crusty, buttered bread.