Crispy Battered Fried Hake Fish Fingers

I’m thinking about finger food, you know… food you can eat with your hands, so today we have what I call hake fish fingers, or well some fish nuggets, just to be original! 🙂

Basically, it’s a variation of fried hake in batter, but I added a few tempura tricks, like using very cold sparkling water, so instead of the batter being soft, you get a crispier batter which is always something different and easier to eat with your hands. I have to admit I loved the final result, the hake was tender with a subtle hint of cilantro and lemon, and the coating was crispy and sweet.

In fact, as you can see in the photos, the batter literally separated from the fish and the fish was rattling inside the crispy batter, if that’s not fun, I don’t know what to say! You can serve it as a snack, as an appetizer with some sauces, or of course as a meal with a side dish. Let’s get to the recipe!

Crispy Battered Fried Hake Fish Fingers

Servings: 12
Time: 1hr
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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Nothing like some crispy fish fingers, well season these are delicious and way more nutritious finger food! 😀 You should try heheheh try go ahead! hehehe

Ingredients

Hake – 4 fillets
Egg – 1
Sparkling Water – 50ml (Very Cold)
Flour – 60g
Cilantro – a pinch
Lemon – 1 (Juice)
Sunflower Oil – Enough
Garlic Powder – A Pinch
Pepper – A Pinch
Salt – A Pinch

Directions

Cut the hake fillets into strips, you can cut them however you like, but try to make them all roughly the same size and thickness so they cook evenly.

Place them in a bowl and season with chopped coriander (about 2 tablespoons), salt, pepper, garlic powder, and the juice of one lemon. Mix and set aside for about 15 to 20 minutes (note that you don’t want to leave it for more than 30 minutes, otherwise the lemon will start to cook the hake instead of flavoring it, and it will start to fall apart).

In a bowl, prepare the batter, add the flour, egg, sparkling water, salt, and pepper, mix well until you get a creamy batter. You need something that sticks easily to the fish, so if it’s too liquid, you need to adjust it with a little more flour, and if it’s too thick, add a little more sparkling water.
Heat oil in a frying pan, about 2 fingers deep, over medium heat, pour a little batter into the oil, and when it starts to bubble, it’s time to fry.

Dip each piece of hake in the batter and then fry. Don’t overfill the oil. Turn until both sides are golden brown.

When golden, remove to absorbent paper towels to remove excess oil and repeat the process until you have no more fish. Bon appétit!

Notes & Tips: Replace the cold sparkling water with cold beer.

If you have leftover batter, you can always cut an onion into rings and pass each ring through the batter to make fried onion rings ;D That’s what I did with the rest hehehe.

Cutting your hake strips to uniform thickness means they’ll all be perfectly cooked at the same time. Also don’t crowd the pan. Fry in small batches to maintain the oil temperature and ensure even cooking.

Don’t marinate longer than 30 minutes, the acid in the lemon will start “cooking” the fish and make it mushy.

Pairing Suggestions: Hake goes beautifully with mayonnaise-based sauces, like sweet pickle sauce or Tzatziki sauce.

This recipe for Crispy Battered Fried Hake Fish Fingers was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Nuggets de Pescada Fritos num Polme foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.