Homemade frozen fish fingers?!
When I want to cook them, should I thaw them first or cook them straight from frozen bearing in mind that the fish is still raw?
I know that bought ones are cooked from frozen but don't know if they put any special additives to do that as most other raw meat, I thaw first before cooking.
Thanks.
Answers: I made some home-made fish fingers at the weekend (cod in breadcrumbs) and froze half on a tray as raw.
When I want to cook them, should I thaw them first or cook them straight from frozen bearing in mind that the fish is still raw?
I know that bought ones are cooked from frozen but don't know if they put any special additives to do that as most other raw meat, I thaw first before cooking.
Thanks.
Cook from frozen. You can cook most types of fish and the various cuts from them frozen. It is best to add them straight from frozen if grilling, if shallow frying, add them in small batches to let the heat of the oil/fat increase again, (usually at 20 second intervals)
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has some good recipes for fish fingers in many of his books. I make them for my son. He particularly likes pollock as a good choice of fish. Plus it is a more sustainable breed of fish. As much as I love cod, I think we need to lets stocks replenish.
Good luck with your cooking, hope they taste as yummy as they sound!
EDIT: You can use most firm fish meat. I've tried to experiment with a few types. Some more successful than others. Also try different seasoning in the breadcrumbs too. I quite liked adding some chopped fresh dill. A good one with white fish is to smear a little horseradish sauce on the fish, then coating the fish with breadcrumbs, adds a little hotness type kick to them
EDIT (Part 2) Forgot to mention, depending on the thickness of your fish-fingers, you should have the oil sizzling hot, but not smoking. So test that it is hot enough by adding a little of the breadcrumbs and if they skip around the pan a little and brown fairly quickly, then you got the temp just right. If they burn quickly, it is too hot, if it just sits in the pan, then it is likely to not be hot enough (if I am stating the obvious, I am sorry, but at least it might help someone else)
you do not have to defrost fish fingers, commercial or
domestic, before grilling or frying or oven baking.
The reason is, fish is less dense than frozen meat, the meat
would burn on the outside and be raw inside.
If you "take them out 15 minutes before" as suggested, the
coating (crumb or batter) becomes soggy and liable to fall off.
well if you take them out about 15 minutes before you cook them it is better, as this will not lower the oil or oven temperature, therefore the fish fingers will not absorb so much oil / fat.
Hi, I have made fish fingers and fish cakes which I cook from frozen and they are fine, I find if I thaw them out they easily crumble up.