German fish burgers
The inspiration for these fish burgers came from a train station in Germany. The moist deep fried fish, covered in crunchy breadcrumbs, nestling between the sweet sesame-coated bread and layered with mayonnaise and fresh coleslaw was a perfect combination of remarkable flavours.
The memories made me want to try my hand at making these burgers since I miss their taste so much now. It is necessary to fillet a big piece of fish in this recipe. Whilst I was lucky to try it with a piece of salmon, any other big fish such as snappers, tuna, herring, catfish, etc. will do.
The original one that I had in Germany was made of a fish fillet called Buchfish, which is commonly found in the coastal regions of the country. Since that is unavailable here, any large fish that you like goes well with the recipe.
You have to pin-bone the entire fillet, so that it's completely clean of bones, and remove the skin as well. The slices of filleted fish should be cut thinly, as it is going to be deep-fried in bread crumbs to provide a crunchy texture. I didn't want to make this fish taste like ones we have for curries here, but rather wanted it to contain a bit of German flair so I made sure the marinade was relatively spice-free.
Two tablespoons of lemon juice, a tablespoon of lemon zest, a clove of garlic finely sliced and one whole red chilli makes a great marinade for a medium-sized fish fillet to rest in for at least half an hour. After that the fish should be coated in egg and then covered with bread crumbs.
You must deep fry the fish on a saucepan, with hot oil, so that it becomes very crunchy. Fish does not take much time to cook, so three minutes on each side is fine. It is ready when the bread crumbs have become golden-brown. And then to create the perfect burger, use toasted buns from a good bakery. You may fry them in a little bit of butter to provide that extra bit of crunch and flavour.
For the mayonnaise and coleslaw to go on the burgers, I made sure that the flavours weren't overpowering. I used a combination of mustard and mayonnaise, and dabbed them lightly on both the buns. For coleslaw, use cabbage, carrots, diced tomatoes, red onions and parsley.
Drizzle the coleslaw with a little bit of olive oil, sugar and lime juice. It's both refreshing and light, and goes perfectly with the delicious fried fish.
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