Recipe: Tropical-inspired Crumbed Fish Sandwich With Escovitch Pickle

Photo: Yusuke Oba

Condiments are king in this fish sanga, which features pineapple aioli and a spicy habanero pickle.

Daniel Grieves, owner of Sydney’s Lucky Pickle, says he’s a believer in the “keep it simple, stupid” philosophy when it comes to food – fresh ingredients, the right balance of flavours and you can’t go wrong. The sandwiches at Lucky Pickle are so simple and unpretentious they don’t even have names, and there’s just four on the menu at any one time – three staples and one rotating.

Condiments are king for this recipe. You’ll need to whip up a spicy escovitch pickle sauce (a Jamaican-style sauce with habanero chillies) and a simple pineapple aioli. The trick lies in balancing the sweet, salty and spicy flavours.

“You can decide how spicy you want the pickle to be by adjusting how much habanero you add, and especially the seeds,” says Grieves. “Start by making your sugar, salt and hot water base, then add your vegetables according to taste.”

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Allspice berries (known in the Caribbean as pimento berries) are an essential ingredient for the pickle flavour, Grieves says. “Use six or seven whole berries if you can find them, but if not, you can substitute for a teaspoon or two of ground allspice.”

The secret with the pickle is in marinating it thoroughly. “Very fresh and very marinated,” are the two rules here, says Grieves. You’ll need the pickle to sit at least overnight but preferably longer, and you can expect it to last up to a month in the fridge. When putting the pickle on the sandwich, squeeze the juice out by hand.

When it comes to selecting fish, Grieves says any white-fleshed fillet will do. Australian barramundi is an excellent choice, especially with National Barramundi Day coming up on October 22. “We deep fry the fish at Lucky Pickle to give it a nice crunch, but if you don’t have a deep fryer you can pan fry it” Grieves says.

Lastly, don’t skimp on your bread. A fresh, flaky baguette is perfect, but you can also serve on fresh buns or regular bread.

Lucky Pickle’s crumbed fish sandwich with escovitch pickle

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves 1

Ingredients

Fish
1 Australian Barramundi fillet
1 egg
¼ cup water
Flour
Breadcrumbs (panko is best)
Oil for frying
Sea salt flakes

Escovitch pickle
50g salt
300g white sugar
1L boiling water
Habanero chillies, sliced, with or without seeds depending on spice tolerance (wear disposable gloves to do this)
Capsicum (green, yellow or red), julienned
Carrot, julienned
White onion, julienned
Whole allspice berries (or substitute with ground allspice)
600ml vinegar
(adjust these ratios to suit)

Pineapple aioli
1 whole pineapple, skin removed, roughly chopped
Mayonnaise
Sugar
Salt and pepper

To serve
1 fresh baguette
Shredded cabbage

Method

Whisk egg and water in a bowl until foamy. Generously cover barramundi in flour, coat in egg wash and let excess drip off. Lightly crumb the fish evenly. Heat oil to 180°C and deep fry or pan fry until golden brown (around four minutes). Remove and sprinkle generously with sea salt flakes, drain excess oil and leave to cool.

To prepare the escovitch pickle, add sugar, salt and boiling water to sterile container and whisk until dissolved. Combine habaneros, capsicum, carrot, onion, and allspice in pickling mix. Seal and marinate at least overnight.

For the aioli, add pineapple chunks to a food processor or blender. Pulse-blend until crushed (pineapple should have some structure but be extremely malleable). Strain excess juice into container and keep crushed pineapple separate. Mix the mayonnaise, crushed pineapple, some of the pineapple juice and a small amount of sugar and salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, halve a fresh, flaky baguette and spread pineapple aioli on base. Place a bed of shredded cabbage on top. Set fish on cabbage, cutting to size to ensure even distribution across the sandwich. Top with a good helping of escovitch pickle. Replace the top of the baguette and cut in half to serve.

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