Hold the phone! Stop the presses! Could I actually be posting a FISH recipe on Planet Byn? It’s true. I briefly touched upon the genetic mystery of my aversion to seafood in this post, but the reality is, I’ve been trying to eat fish once a week. It’s good for you, often cheaper than chicken, and cooks quickly for fast dinners.

I guess to me, these aren’t really blog-worthy meals, because I usually just lightly saute my fish of choice (tilapia) and eat with with quinoa and vegetables (examples here and here).  But for the past three weeks, I’ve been making homemade fish sticks and they are super crispy and awesome!

I’m not sure why this never occured to me before, but you make them just like chicken fingers. Set up a little assembly line, and they go for a dip in flour, then egg, then a mixture of panko breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes and salt. I’m totally going to take these to the next level of healthiness this week by swapping in whole wheat flour and egg white in my stations. I think I might give crushed corn flakes a try too. (Side note: My friend Jenn introduced me to the wonder of her Cornflake Chicken recipe, but neglected to tell me that you can purchase cornflake crumbs in a small box next to the Shake n’ Bake. This resulted in me purchasing the smallest box of corn flakes at my grocery store which is 525 grams, i.e. HUGE. I think she’s still laughing about it).

Of course, the best part about chicken fingers is the dipping sauces, and in this case I made the easy spicy tartar sauce that went along with the recipe. Last week I made a honey mustard dipping sauce that was just dijon, honey and a bit of light mayo. This week I might just go straight honey at it – that’s what I used to dip my McNuggets in when I was a tot.

Fish Sticks + Spicy Tartar Sauce

Source: A Cozy Kitchen

Yield: The quantities I’ve listed below makes enough for my dinner with leftovers for lunch the next day (i.e. 2 servings). Adjust accordingly!

Ingredients

Fish

3 tilapia fillets (what she order? fish fillet!)

1/2 cup flour (all-purpose or whole wheat)

1 egg

3/4 cup panko or crushed cornflakes

1/4 cup finely grated parmesan

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp salt

Spicy Tartar Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup light mayo

2 tbsp finely chopped jalapeno

1/2 tsp lemon juice (I added a bit more)

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp sriracha (more if you like it spicier

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set up your assembly like so: Bowl #1 – flour / Bowl #2 – egg (lightly beaten) / Bowl #3 – panko, cheese, red pepper flakes, salt (mixed together).
2. Slice your fish into little rectangles, then dunk them in Bowls #1, #2, #3 (in that order), and place on the parchment. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. (Since the oven’s on, you might as well slice up some potato wedges for faux fish & chips).
3. For tartar sauce, just whisk everything together.