No "Fish" and CHIPS
Plant-based Fish, crisp roasted chips and minty peas
“Fish, which is my favorite dish, but without no money, it’s still a wish”. As the true legend Rakim once spitted this line, we cooked up a classic crowdpleaser. But, instead of fishing it from the ocean, we took it from a tree. Fish and chips, made of Banana Blossom. Beer battered, served with classic green peas. Enough talking, let’s get cooking.
Ingredients
2 cans banana blossom
4 nori sheets
Half a lemon
1 L sunflower oil or other neutral oil for frying
For the beer batter:
150 gr white flour
150 gr corn flour (maizena)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbs baking powder
300 ml beer of choice
Good pinch of salt
For the chips:
1 kg crumbly potatoes
3 cloves garlic
2 sprigs rosemary
8 tbs vegan mayo
Half a lemon
2 tsp Vadouvan spice mix
Minty Peas:
450 gr frozen peas
1 clove garlic
1 lemon
1 tsp Za’atar or ground cumin
small bunch of mint and parsley
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200 ‘C and a pot of salted water. Place the potatoes in the water (leaving skins on) and bring to a boil. Cook for about 8 minutes or until they are just cooked. Then drain and let them steam until they have cooled down a little. Place on a large baking tray and crush the potatoes so their skins burst. Then add the crushed garlic cloves and rosemary and sprinkle everything with oil and salt. Roast in the oven until nice and crispy (about 20 mins).
Prep the sauce by mixing the mayonnaise with the vadouvan and lemon. Taste for seasoning. Then make the minty peas by blanching the peas with boiling hot water. Then crush them roughly with a fork. Chop up the mint and parsley, and mix in together with a good glug of olive oil, the juice of one lemon, Za’atar, salt and pepper.
Now it’s time for the banana blossom (FISH)! Preheat a pan for frying with oil at 175 ‘C. Open the cans and carefully take out the blossom ‘fillets’. Squeeze out as much of the moisture as you cans, making sure the ‘fillets’ stay intact. Then place on some kitchen paper and pat dry. Season with a pinch of salt. Cut the nori sheets to a size that they fit as a ‘skin’ around the fillets. Sprinkle the nori with some lemon juice (so they become soft), then tightly wrap around the fillet.
Make the beer batter by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and give it a good whisk so it’s nice and airy. Time for frying. When the oil is hot (check by dripping some batter into the oil) coat the entire fillet wrapped with the nori in the beer batter. Then place it straight into the oil. Keep flipping around in the oil while it’s cooking. After the first flip, add some more batter on top with a spoon for extra crunchiness. When nice and golden, take out of the oil and let drain off the oil. Immediately season with some salt. Do this with all the banana blossom fillets (you can fry multiple at the same time, but don’t overfill the pan). Serve when it’s still hot! Bon a petit!