For the tartare sauce:
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 250 millilitres good-quality plain oil
- 1⁄3 cup diced gherkins (or more – go wild)
- 2 teaspoons diced capers
- 1⁄3 cup finely chopped dill and parsley
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
For the fish fingers:
- 2 skate wings, skinned (could also use anything your heart desires)
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup flour
- 1 cup panko crumbs
- Plain oil for frying
- 4 bread rolls, preferably milk bun or brioche (something soft)
- 1 head cos lettuce
Make your own tartare – yea OK it’s a little fiddly making mayo and dicing stuff up, but it’s so worth it! Make your Nana proud and make your own mayo.
1. For the tartare, put the egg yolks, Dijon some salt and pepper and vinegar in a food processor or tall vessel if using a whizz stick. Start whizzing and slowly add the oil – slowly! Once you are about a third of the way through the oil you can add it a bit faster. Add the end, add a little hot water (a teaspoon to a tablespoon) to get it the thickness you like. Now add all your chopped up green stuff and lemon zest. Stir (don’t whizz, you want it chunky), taste and re-season if needed. This will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.
(Bung some chippies in the oven now and they will be done by the time your burgers are ready.)
2. Prep your skate by cutting along the grain – skate has a distinct ribboned flesh and you want to keep the ribbons intact. Make your fingers about 20-millimetres wide and about the length of the burger buns you have chosen. Heat your pan and oil (we think these are best deep-fried); you want the oil to be about 180 degrees Celsius.
3. In three shallow bowls separately put the flour (seasoned), the beaten eggs and the panko crumb. Now for the messy bit. Flour your skate fingers, drench in egg (let it drip off) then coat in panko. Put on a separate plate and repeat until all the fingers are crumbed.
Test your oil temp by dropping a little panko in – if it doesn’t sizzle immediately, it isn’t hot enough.
4. Once the oil is hot enough, put your fingers (skate fingers, not your actual fingers) one at a time into the oil and fry for 1–2 minutes. As soon as they start to brown, they are doneeeeeeeeeeeee! You don’t want to crowd the pan so fry the fingers in batches so they have plenty of space around them. Once fried, place on a plate lined with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt.
5. Slice your buns in half and butter them, brown them in a skillet for a minute then pop on a plate to assemble. Start with a generous dollop of tartare sauce on both sides and some crunchy cos leaves, then layer your skate fingers on top and put the lid on. Get those chippies out of the oven and serve on the side.
Recipe by Zak Olsen and Tamar Wells
