Fish and chips or Backfisch

                                  Fish and chips or Backfisch

Achtung, jetzt gibt's Backfisch!!!! That is a phrase on every Fair in the south what makes northern style fried fish. Also, I have heard it on the market in Hamburg before. Backfisch is the german version of fried fish. Or fish sticks. However you want to call it. This specific recipe now is a copy cat and direct translation from star chef Stefan Henssler and his "schnelle Nummer". He also sells that combination at his Ahoi Restaurants in Hamburg as street food. I tried it there 2 weeks ago and was like OMG!!!! I would have never thought about that combo. Plus, his Remoulade sauce worked perfect yesterday with our grilled spanish Mackerel. The longer it sits, the better it tastes. I will write both dips here with the fried fish recipe. For the french fries or "chips" I trust you to find your own lol. 

This is what you need:

For the Remoulade sauce:

- 2 Egg yolk

- 1 TSP mustard

- Juice of 1/2 Lemon

- 200 ml Oil

- 1 TBSP Capers, diced 

- 1 hardboiled egg, diced

- 1 Pickle, diced

- 1/2 bunch of italian Parsley, cut finely

- 1 TBSP Sour Cream

- Salt, Pepper

For the Garlic sauce or Aioli:

- 1 Egg

- 1 spritz Lemon juice

- 1 TSP mustard

- 100 ml Oil

- salt, pepper

- 1 Garlic glove finely chopped or crushed

For the fish batter:

- 2 pieces a 150 gr Cod (or flounder is good too)

- Fish seasoning

- 200 gr Flour

- 1 TSP Salt

- 300 ml Seltzer Water (with bubbles) 

- 2 TBSP Vinegar

- 10 gr. Baking powder

This is how you do it:

In a tall but narrow glass, just enough space to fit your emergent Blender, add the stuff for the Remoulade: egg yolk, mustard, salt, Lemon juice and oil. Blend it until it gets thick. Remove into a bigger bowl. Now whisk in the sour cream and all the ingredients you chopped finely. Let it sit in the fridge. It will get thicker there, promise. 

In the same tall glass, add now the ingredients for the garlic sauce: egg, lemon juice, Oil, mustard and salt. This will get a lot thinner since its actually an Aioli. Now crush the garlic in to it and let it sit in the fridge as well. 

For the fish batter, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, vinegar and water. It will foam. It will make a nice, crunchy but light crust. Cut the fish into nice size of sticks. Heat enough oil in a large pan or fryer for the fish to cover. Add a thermometer to control heat. should be not more then 175 degrees celcius or 350 Fahrenheit. Coat the fish nicely and thoroughly with the batter and immediately put in the hot oil. Don't overcrowd the pan. Fry on each side for 2,5 min or until golden brown and then turn to the other side. When done, let it drip on Paper towels for excessive oil. 

I also made fresh french fries with it in the oven so it was done at the same time. I coated the fresh potato wedges in oil, salt and Paprika. Perfect combo.

Stefan Henssler now is adding HIS personal note to this dish with a mix of red Onion, Peperoni and Cilantro. I cut them all up into slices and added some salt, Pepper and Lemon juice and let it sit for a moment. 

To serve this dish, put the French fries on a plate, 1-2 pieces of fish, the Aioli around on the side, the Remoulade on top of the fries and the onion/chili/cilantro mix on top of the fish. It is an explosion of flavors in your mouth. Trust me. 

If you ever going to make this recipe or even just some of it, I would love to hear back from you. Leave me a comment on here.

with this:

Guten Appetit and AHOI