You might think faux meat is a modern creation but it was actually pretty common during WWII.
For the longest time I’ve been wanting to make a vegan fish and chips, but I’ve been undecided over the best way to go about it. When I was a kid, I lived in Buffalo, NY, and “fish fries,” as they’re called there, were a big deal. In Buffalo, a fish fry is essentially a northeast American version of fish and chips. The fish is either breaded or battered and served with french fries, tartar sauce, coleslaw, and lemon slices. Sometimes they are also accompanied with hush puppies, malt vinegar, and hot sauce. My family’s fish fry of choice was beer-battered with the traditional fixin’s.
The other day I was watching a British cooking program and they happened to do a segment on fish and chips during WWII. It turns out, Britons were so obsessed with fish and chips during that era, the government started providing a vegetarian fish and chips substitute when real fish wasn’t available to keep spirits high. I looked up the original recipe and decided to give it a try.
Fun Fact: the chef hosting this show is the same one who came up with the triple cooked chip method.
This is the original recipe:
Bring half a pint of milk to the boil, shower in two ounces of ground rice and add a teaspoonful of chopped onion or leek, a piece of margarine the size of a small walnut, and a seasoning of anchovy essence.
Let this simmer gently for 20 minutes, then take the pan off the fire, and stir in a well-beaten egg.
Mix well together, and then spread the mixture out on a flat dish: it should be about half an inch thick.
When it is cold, cut it into pieces the size and shape of fish fillets, brush these with milk, roll them in breadcrumbs, and fry until golden-brown. Serve parsley sauce with them.
As you can see, it’s a not a vegan recipe, but it’s a good start. All I had to do was make a few simple modifications. I replaced the milk with soy milk, the butter with vegan margarine, and the egg with a flax egg. I also added some garlic and Old Bay seasoning to give it a fishy flavor in lieu of the anchovies.
Instead of breading and pan-frying it, like the original recipe, I decided to batter and deep fry it; because after all, my original intention was to create a vegan fish fry. The rice mixture was a little too flimsy for deep frying, so I popped it in the freezer to firm it up and that worked out pretty well. The final result tasted fantastic! It really tasted like fried fish. I convinced my dad, who refuses to eat anything labeled vegan, to try a piece, and even he was surprised how much it tasted like a real fish fry. The whole family ended up trying some and it was a massive hit. Give it a shot and let us know what you think in the comments below!
Crispy beer-battered mock fish served with golden brown triple-cooked chips, vegan tartar sauce, and fresh lemons.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk
- 3/4 cup white rice
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 tbsp vegan margarine
- 2 tbsp diced onions
- 1 clove garlic, diced
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1 tbsp Old Bay
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup corn starch
- 1 can of lager
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water)
- 2 tbsp vegan mayo
- 1 tbsp dill relish
- Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
- Get the recipe here
Instructions
- Add rice to a food processor and process on high until it is broken into tiny bits and pieces.
- Bring soy milk to a boil, then stir in rice, flour, margarine, onions, garlic, time, and Old Bay. Whisk thoroughly to break up any lumps. Gently simmer for about 20 min, stirring occasionally, until the mixture looks like a thick risotto.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the mixture out evenly over it. Place in the freezer for 1 hr, until the mixture is cold and solid, but not completely frozen.
- Fill a deep, heavy-bottom pan with 2 inches of vegetable oil. Heat the oil to 350º F. Cut the rice into triangles or any shape you like, dunk in the beer-batter, and then submerge in the oil. Fry until golden brown and crispy – about 3 to 5 min. Place on a cooling rack or stack of paper towels to drain excess oil before serving. Season with sea salt and cracked pepper to taste.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together dry ingredients, then add beer and flax egg and whisk throughly until there are no lumps.
- Cover and chill in the fridge for 30 min.
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until evenly mixed.
Notes
I made this recipe twice: once with flour and once without. It worked both ways, but I prefer it with flour a little more than without. You may also want to try tapioca starch, xanthan gum, or wheat gluten as a thickening/binding agent.
If you want to make a healthier version, you can bake the rice mixture after it cools instead of battering and frying it. It's actually quite good baked. The outside gets brown and crispy and the edges develop a nice crunch. Simply bake at 375º F for 20 min.
I doubled the amounts of the original recipe so I could have some extras to freeze. I'm glad that I did because I ended up getting an extra two or three meals out of the batch. I'm happy to say they were still good reheated. I simply baked them at 400º F for about 5 - 10 min on each side.
If you're pressed for time, or you just don't feel like making the rice mixture, you can use any other protein you like – tofu, tempeh, seitan – and still get a great tasting piece of mock fish. I would use firm tofu since it is the closest to real fish. Just make sure you season it thoroughly with some Old Bay before you batter it.
To save time, I made the beer-batter and cooked the chips while the mock fish was cooling in the freezer.
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