Baked Flathead Fish and Chips
Flathead is an awesome fish for all ages, as it has a lovely mild flavour. We’ve used bits and pieces you likely already have in the pantry to create this recipe so hopefully you don’t need to head out to the shops for any fancy one-time-use ingredients!
Ingredients
- 2 pieces of sustainably sourced flathead
- 1 free range egg
- 1 stale bread roll (or any kind of bread, OR premade bread crumbs - whatever you have on hand!)
- Plain white flour
- 1 lemon
- Salt flakes
- Pepper
- 2 potatoes
- Dipping sauce (optional)
- Mayo
- Cornichons or pickles
- Pickle juice
- Horseradish
- Paprika (for a pop of colour)
Method
- Preheat your oven to 180C. At the same time, pop your bread roll into a food processor and blitz until it becomes a nice, consistent crumb. (If you don’t have a food processor, you could also just break it up with your hands or whack it with a rolling pin until it’s crumbly.)
- Finely grate the zest of your lemon over the breadcrumbs, then add a good pinch of salt and some cracked pepper and mix everything together.
- Crack your egg into a bowl and whisk until combined. Set up a station with your bowl of egg, a plate of plain flour, and a plate of breadcrumbs, plus an additional clean plate or tray to pop your crumbed flathead onto.
- First, coat your flathead in flour, then dip into egg until completely coated before covering evenly with breadcrumbs. Pop the crumbed flathead onto your clean plate and repeat with all the pieces.
- Next, cut up your potatoes into chip sized chunks, then toss in a bowl with olive oil and a pinch of salt.
- Transfer your potatoes to an oven tray and pop them in the oven for around 15 mins (the chips will take a little longer to cook than the fish so put them in first).
- While you’re waiting, make the dipping sauce (optional). Add a decent amount of mayo to a small bowl - approx 1 - 2 tbsp. The rest of your ingredients you’ll add to taste, but we’ll give you a rough idea! Chop up your pickles or cornichons finely - we didn’t need many at all (we only used half a cornichon for ours!) and mix in. Then pop in a little bit of the juice and mix, taste, add more if necessary (we added about ½ tsp to approx 1 tbsp mayo). Add a bit of horseradish (¼ tsp - ½ tsp) and taste test! Once you’re happy with your mix, sprinkle a little paprika on top for presentation.
- After the potatoes have had about 15 mins in the oven, add your fish to the tray and drizzle some olive oil over the fillets. Pop back in the oven for 15 - 20 mins depending on the size of your flathead fillets. It’s also a good idea to flip your fish (and chips) about halfway through the cooking time to ensure they get crispy on both sides. To check for doneness, break a piece of fish open - you’re looking for a nice even white colour through the whole piece. It should flake easily.
- Once your fish is cooked through, transfer everything to a serving platter, cut a few wedges of fresh lemon, sprinkle with salt and you’re ready to go!
