Portuguese Crispy Fried Battered Hake with Garlic, Lemon & Cilantro

Wow, lately I’ve been talking a LOT about fried food, which for me is a bit out of the ordinary, not because I don’t like fried food, far from it, I love it, I think almost everyone does, it’s just that I try to avoid frying too often, so I do it maybe once or twice a month. But the posts here on BakeAfter don’t come in order, I publish whatever I feel like publishing or whatever fits a certain theme, so sometimes it may look like I spent the whole week frying a bit of everything hahaha ;D

Anyway, back to the topic. Today we have another take on the traditional battered fried hake fillets, which in my opinion is by far the most delicious way to eat hake. That, or mashed up with boiled egg and liters of olive oil (just the way my sister loves it). The good thing about hake is that it’s a nutritious, firm in texture and relatively cheap fish. The bad thing is that it doesn’t have much flavor, but it could be worse, catfish for example has a mushy, spongy texture and a weird aroma of herbs and mud, so hake… all is forgiven! ;D

And that’s exactly why fried hake can be so good. If you season it well and fry it in a tasty batter, you’re adding everything hake doesn’t have, more texture, more flavor, more richness. The result speaks for itself, it’s one of the most popular ways to eat hake in Portugal. I mean, who walks into a restaurant and orders boiled hake with potatoes… please hahaha, it’s either hake rissoles or fried hake! ;D So let’s get to the recipe!

Portuguese Crispy Fried Battered Hake with Garlic, Lemon & Cilantro

Servings: 4
Time: 1hr
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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Nothing beats a good fried hake recipe, this time with a typical Portuguese batter based on milk, which makes for a creamier, softer batter that’s great fresh out of the pan but also delicious and creamier the next day.

Ingredients

Hake – 3 filets (Approx. 300g)
Eggs – 2 large (Cold)
Flour – 70g
Milk – 50g (Cold)
Garlic – 2 Cloves
Lemon – 1
Cilantro – A pinch
Cooking Oil – Enough for frying (I used sunflower oil)
Pepper – A Pinch
Salt – A Pinch

Directions

Start by thawing the fillets and cutting them into strips, you can fry them whole or in strips, but I felt like cutting them into strips this time, you get more batter that way 😀

Place them in a bowl and season with minced garlic, chopped cilantro, salt, pepper, and the juice of one lime. Note that you only want to let them sit for about 15 minutes, if you leave the hake in the lime juice for too long, it will start to fall apart and you don’t want that. You just want the fish to soften slightly and have time to absorb the seasonings.

Next, prepare the batter, whisk the two eggs and season with salt and a pinch of cilantro. Then, add the cold milk and whisk well. Finally, add the flour and whisk again until you have a smooth, homogeneous mixture with the consistency of honey.
Heat the oil over medium heat in a deep fryer or a wide skillet. You can either deep-fry or use a skillet with a few inches of oil, just ensure you can fry one side completely without the fish touching the bottom (if it touches the bottom, it often won’t fry evenly, or get spotchy, and the batter might stick), then flip it to fry on the other side.

Once the oil is hot, take a strip of fish, pat it dry with kitchen paper to remove excess surface moisture, dip it in the batter, dray, and fry it. Repeat until the pan is full, but, as always with frying, don’t overcrowd the pan or fry too many pieces at the same time.

Fry until one side is golden brown, then flip the fillets and fry the other side. When both sides are golden, remove from the heat and let them drain on a wire rack or kitchen paper.
Repeat until all the fish is cooked. And there you have it, they’re great just as a snack, as part of a meal, or in a sandwich, they’re fantastic for picnics and keep really well in the fridge overnight. Bon appétit!

Notes & Tips: Since I made the traditional batter, there will be some left over, there always is, so you can add more hake to try to use up all the batter, or cut some onion rings or a few veggies and use the rest of the batter to make fried vegetables, which is what I always do with the leftover batter!

Also, if you think the hake is too wet, you can dust it in flour before dipping it in the batter, but in my experience, drying the hake a bit with paper towel before dipping is enough for the batter to stick well to the fish.

Keep the oil steady at around 175°C to 190°C (350°F to 375°F). Too cool and the batter drinks up the oil and turns greasy, too hot and it browns before the fish is cooked through. A drop of batter in the oil should sizzle right away and float up.

Keep the milk and eggs cold. Cold batter hitting hot oil gives you a crispier crust, so keep the batter bowl in the fridge between batches if you’re frying a lot. Also note that this type of batter is a bit crispy while leaving the fried but gets creamier as it cools, if you want crispier batter, this is not the recipe for you, try some tempura batter!

Don’t over whisk once the flour goes in. Whisk just until smooth, a few tiny lumps won’t hurt anybody.

Let the batter drip off for a second before it goes into the oil. Too much batter makes a thick, doughy coating, and nobody wants that.

Fry in small batches and drain on a rack instead of kitchen paper when you can, so the bottom stays crispy instead of steaming itself soggy.

If you’re using frozen hake, thaw it in the fridge and pat it very dry. Extra water is the number one enemy of a batter that sticks.

Serve with lemon wedges, a simple tomato rice, a green salad, or with tartar sauce or mayo for dipping. A cold beer doesn’t hurt either ;D

This recipe for Portuguese Crispy Fried Battered Hake with Garlic, Lemon & Cilantro was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Filetes de Pescada Frita foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.