Panko Fish Fingers with Lemon & Garlic Mayonnaise
So lets be honest, store bought fish fingers can be quite “fishy”. I mean what’s in those perfectly uniform fingers after all? If you’re like me and actually want to know what you are serving your family on their dinner plates, then this is a recipe for you! Not only are they crispy, golden and delicious, but they are also a winner with your kids. They can be enjoyed as a meal or served as party snacks at a braai. Your friends and family will be begging for more!
What I love about this recipe is that you can make your fish fingers in advance and freeze them for future use. If you do decide to freeze them, place them on a tray in single file on some wax paper. Once frozen, you can put them in a tupperware or freezer bag, this will prevent them from sticking to each other. Just remember that you will need to allow them some time to defrost before frying.
This recipe will require the skin to be removed from the fish. To remove the skin, place the fillet on the board skin side down. Make a small incision through the meat toward the skin, starting on the tail side. Gripping the skin with your one hand and keeping the knife still with the other, wiggle the skin away from the knife until the skin is removed and you end up with a lovely clean fillet. I find it easier to use a knife which is blunt as it doesn’t cut through the skin.
When cutting your tilapia fingers, remove the blood line. This section can have a few tiny bones so it is best removed. You will end up with a thin piece and a thicker piece. Leave the thin piece as is and cut the thicker piece in half again. This way each tilapia fillet will give you three fingers.
This recipe is based on 6 fish fingers from two tilapia fillets, but you can increase the ingredients to serve more or to create extra for home freezing.
The next step is to coat your fingers by rolling in flour, coating with egg and finally rolling in panko crumbs. Make sure your fingers are evenly coated and then set aside on a plate or tray for shallow frying. I found that frying in butter is the best as it gives the fish a lovely nutty, salty flavour.
Serve with a quick and easy lemon and garlic dipping mayonnaise and a side of sweet potato fries. Yum!
- 350g Greenfish tilapia fillets (2 fillets)
- 3/4 cup of flour
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- 1 cup panko crumbs
- 150g butter
- 1/2 cup of good quality mayonnaise
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- a good pinch of crushed peppercorns
- Remove the bloodline as previously explained, and section each fillet into 3 fish fingers.
- Place the flour, eggs and panko crumbs in three separate bowls.
- Roll the fish fingers in the flour, coating evenly.
- Roll the fish fingers in the egg, coating all sides.
- Finally, roll the fish fingers in the panko crumbs, coating all sides and set aside on a plate or tray.
- In a pan, heat the butter on a medium heat until bubbling and fry for approximately 3 minutes a side until golden brown.
- Place on paper towel to absorb any excess butter.
- Serve with your lemon & garlic mayonnaise.
- Combine mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice and black pepper in a small bowl.
Slow Cooker Coconut Fish Curry
So I’ve discovered that juggling life as a wife and new mom is rather time consuming. One has very little time for cooking anything elaborate, if anything at all! Trying to shuffle between watching over a tiny baby and spending time in the kitchen is almost impossible. This inspired me to create a really quick and easy one-pot-wonder which your hubby will love.
For this recipe I used a slow cooker. It really is the best piece of equipment that any mom can own. It is very inexpensive and easy to use. This is a quick curry and only requires about 2-3 hours in the slow cooker, which is perfect to quickly whip together once you get home from work, and then leave simmering in the pot to soak up all those delicious coconut and Thai flavours until dinner time.
If you don’t want to spend time chopping fresh ginger, garlic cloves and chilli, I discovered that Woolworths sells crushed garlic, ginger, chilli and tumeric in a single tub which is ideal for this recipe and will save you even more time!
Use a whisk to combine your coconut cream and spices. This ensures that the spices are dispersed evenly into the sauce, which then turns into a lovely golden colour.
This recipe works best with a nice firm white fish. I have used Greenfish kingklip fillets cut into bite size chunks. Using a firmer fish allows the squares to stay intact during the cook instead of disintegrating into the sauce.
When adding the lime leaves, I find the easiest method is to put them in a porous bag. This can then easily be removed from he curry at the end. You can throw them in loose but these will need to be removed once your curry is done and they can be time consuming to find. The ideal tool to use is a spice infuser which you can buy at most kitchen shops. However if you are like me and haven’t yet acquired one you can also use muslin, a stocking or any other porous material. Pour boiling water over the material to cleanse it before use. Then place the lime leaves onto the material and tie it up into a ball. Place your homemade spice infuser into the curry along with your fish and vegetables, remembering to remove the spice bag at the end before serving.
Your curry is ready when your fish turns from opaque to white, which I find usually takes approximately 2 and a half hours. I start on a high setting for the first hour to get the curry bubbling. I then reduce to a low temperature setting for the remaining hour and a half, allowing the flavours to infuse. Each slow cooker will vary, so just keep an eye on it until you discover what works best for you. You don’t want to over cook the fish and have it disintegrate into your curry, but rather have lovely chunks that break away into flakes when eaten with a fork. Season with a good sprinkle of salt and lemon juice and enjoy over a bowl of hot steamed rice.
- 600g Greenfish kingklip fillets
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 thumb fresh ginger
- 3 small green chillis
- 2 tsp tumeric
- (or one tub of Woolworths crushed garlic, ginger, chilli, tumeric mix as discussed)
- 2 tins coconut cream
- 80-100g mange tout
- 120 - 150g broccoli stems
- lime leaves
- salt
- lemon juice
- rice
- coriander
- 5 small red chillis
- Cut your kingklip fillets into bite size chunks.
- Pour the coconut cream into your slow cooker.
- Peel and finely chop the ginger. Deseed the chillis. Add the garlic, chillis, ginger and tumeric to the coconut cream. Alternatively, use one tub of the Woolworths crushed garlic, ginger, chilli, tumeric mix to save time.
- Use a whisk to combine the spices into the coconut cream, until a lovely golden colour.
- Add the kingklip chunks, spacing evenly in the sauce.
- Add the mange tout and broccoli stems evenly in the sauce and gently press down until everything is submerged in the coconut sauce.
- Place some lime leaves in a spice infuser by either using a piece of porous material (as previously demonstrated) or using a shop bought spice infuser. Add your spice infuser to the pot.
- Season with a good pinch of salt and a generous dash of lemon juice.
- Switch your slow cooker on high for the first hour.
- After an hour has passed, reduce heat to a low setting and cook for a further hour and a half.
- Your curry is ready when your fish has turned a lovely white colour and flakes evenly with a fork.
- Garnish with coriander and chopped red chilli and serve in a bowl over some steamed rice.
- You can cut the ingredients in half to make a curry for two, just remember to adjust your cooking time accordingly.
