Danish Fried Fish with Remoulade
We have plenty of flat fish in our waters, and we eat a lot of them – either freshly steamed or pan-fried in breadcrumbs with a dollop of remoulade, which is a piccalilli- type mayonnaise that goes with everything. It’s the Dane’s most treasured condiment and we use it on fries, cold cuts, meatballs, hotdogs and fish.
A note on homemade remoulade: The store bought one tastes like ‘home’ – much like homemade ketchup will always taste different to Heinz. Why? Sugar and additives. The homemade one is less sweet – but you can add more sugar than we have done here to get to more of a store bought flavour. Sorry to break the illusion on this part: store bought condiments have quite a bit of sugar added.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4-6 fillets of plaice or other flat fish
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 60 g panko breadcrumbs
- olive oil and butter for frying
- Chips (fries) salad and lemon wedges,to serve (optional)
- REMOULADE:
- 50 g finely chopped raw carrots
- 50 g finely chopped raw cauliflower
- 25 g white cabbage finely chopped
- 25 g chopped gherkin
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 1 tablespoon chopped shallot onion
- 1 teaspoon freshly chopped chives
- 150 ml mayonnaise
- 100 ml crème fraîche
- 1/2 teaspoon mild curry powder
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 large tablespoon icing sugar to taste
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- To make the remoulade sauce, mix all the ingredients together and leave in the fridge for the flavours to mingle for at least 30 minutes before serving. The sauce will keep for around 4–5 days in the fridge. (Note that store-bought remoulade can be much sweeter, so add more sugar if you prefer this version).
- Preheat the oven to 100°C (210°F) Gas 1/4.
- Rinse the fish fillets and pat dry with paper towels. Prepare two wide shallow dishes, with the beaten egg in one and the breadcrumbs in the other. One by one, dip the fish fillets in the egg, then roll in the breadcrumbs to evenly coat, setting aside on another clean tray or dish as you finish.
- In a large frying pan, heat up a good knob/pat of butter and a generous glug of oil.
- When hot, add the fish, skin-side down, and fry for 1 minute over a medium heat, then turn over and fry for another 1 minute until cooked through and the breadcrumbs are golden all over. You may need to leave the fish on for a little while longer, do check that it is cooked through but don’t overcook – they do not need long at all. Fry in batches of 2–3, depending on the size of your pan, and transfer the cooked fish to the warm oven until ready to serve (keeping warm for no more than 15 minutes).
- Serve the fried fish with homemade chips (fries) or wedges and salad.
Notes
Any leftover fish can be enjoyed the day after for lunch on a slice of buttered dark rye bread - with more remoulade on top.
Recipe from ScandiKitchen Midsommar by Bronte Aurell, published by Ryland, Peters and Small. Photo by Pete Cassidy.