This recipe works well with any round or flat fish. This is one of my favourite ways to use the tails of round fish, but you can use any part of a fillet of round fish. This is best served with lime mayonnaise, bread and butter pickles and an extra splash of hot sauce. Add a couple of brioche buns and some shredded iceberg lettuce and you have the makings of a serious fish sambo.
Serves 4
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
350g hake tails, removed from the bone
180g plain flour
½ tsp fine sea salt
150ml buttermilk
1 tbsp hot sauce, plus extra to serve
TO SERVE:
lime mayonnaise
bread and butter pickles
Preheat the oil in a deep-fryer to 180°C. If you don’t have a deep-fryer, use a heavy-based pot or casserole, fill it no more than halfway with oil and work in small batches. A thermometer is essential if you don’t have a deep-fryer.
Remove the skin from the hake and discard it, then cut the tails into fingers 2cm wide x 12cm long. This should give you approx. 12 fish fingers.
Put the flour and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl and stir to combine.
Put the buttermilk and hot sauce in a separate mixing bowl and mix well.
Add 1 tablespoon of the buttermilk and hot sauce mixture to the flour and mix it through, forming little clumps throughout the flour. This will result in a crispier, crunchier coating on the fish.
Working in batches, add the fish to the flour mixture and toss to coat. Shake off any excess flour, then dip each piece in the buttermilk and hot sauce mixture. Drain off the excess liquid and return once more to the flour mixture, coating well and again shaking off the excess flour. Transfer the fish to a plate or baking tray, ready for frying. I don’t like to do this ahead of time, as the buttermilk and hot sauce will start to break down the fish.
Working in batches (I do no more than four pieces at a time), deep-fry the coated fish for 2 minutes, until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper, sprinkle with sea salt and anoint with more hot sauce to serve with the lime mayo and bread and butter pickles.
