Gosh I love fried fish. Crisp, flaky, tender fish – what can go wrong? Nothing, the answer is nothing. But sometimes you might want to spice up your fried fish and then proceed to make it into a delicious sandwich. What better way than with this Lahori Fried Fish Sandwich! Crispy, tender, spiced white fish on a bed of tangy, refreshing Cole slaw all sandwiched between a fluffy, toasted hoagie roll. Man, I’m getting hungry just remembering it. I’ll help you out and share the recipe with you now – no more waiting around! Let’s get started shall we?
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Ingredients:
For Lahori Fried Fish:
- Shan Lahori Fried Fish Masala
- 2 pounds tilapia fillets
- vegetable oil, for frying
For Cole slaw:
- 6-8 cups Cole slaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1.5 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- salt, to taste
- ground black pepper, to taste
For Assembly:
- Cole slaw
- Fried Lahori Fish
- 8 hoagie rolls
- lime wedges, on the side
- pickles, on the side
- guacamole, optional
Directions:
I like to start off by making the Cole slaw so it can be set aside while the fish is prepared. I like my Cole slaw to be tangy and slightly sweep – it just totally works. In a bowl mix together all the Cole slaw ingredients, minus the shredded cabbage and carrot. Add just a sprinkle of salt and pepper and then mix until well combined. Taste the dressing just to see if it needs any more seasoning. At this point you can add in the cabbage and carrot. Fold the cabbage into the dressing until fully coated and taste once more. Adjust seasoning, if necessary. Set the Cole slaw aside in the refrigerator to allow the cabbage to soften and flavors to mingle.
Now we can prepare the fish! I like to use tilapia just because it’s easy to find and it’s not too fishy. I prefer the mild taste of it – perfect for if you are adding your own spice blend. But you can use any mild, slightly firm, white fish. To prepare the fish fillets cut in half and cut into small mostly even pieces (each fillet should yield about 6-7 pieces). Now for the batter. I will admit this is totally a quick and easy cheat’s Lahori fish since I’m using Shan Lahori Fish spice blend, but I will also very proudly say I LOVE Shan’s masala blends! They cut out a lot of time and energy of finding all the necessary spices for a recipe by having it in one convenient bag. We use them in our house all the time ☺️ For this blend simple add the full contents of the bag into a mixing bowl with 1/2 cup of water and whisk until a batter forms.
Let’s fry up that fish! I love how quickly fish cooks, it almost feels like I’m cheating on top of my cheats Lahori Fish. 👀😂 In a deep pan or pot add in enough oil to cover the fish. Heat on medium-high. I usually just check if my oil is hot enough by dropping just a bit of batter in the oil and seeing if it starts bubbling. But if you want to be exact the temperature should be about 350F – 375F. To fry, dip the fish in the batter and completely coat it and then slowly lower into the heated oil. If you aren’t comfortable doing this with your fingers you can use tongs to lower it into the oil. Add in a few more pieces of fish to fill the pan, but don’t overcrowd it. Let the fish cook for about 1-2 minutes per side or until it is golden brown and crisp. Remove the fish from the oil using tongs or a spider strainer, making sure to shake off excess oil. Let the oil continue to drain on a cooling rack or paper towel lined plate. Cook the remaining fish in the same way.
Well, now that your fish is done you are ready to assemble this sandwich. Get yourself a fresh hoagie roll (fine, it can be a few days old – no one will know)and cut it in half – keeping the halves connected. In a dry frying pan toast the bread on both sides on high heat. Once the bread is toasted add a bed of coleslaw, then place a few pieces of fried fish on top and then top with a bit more Cole slaw and optionally spread some guacamole on the top half of the role and serve! Close that sandwich up and enjoy!
I like to serve this with a side of lime wedges to squeeze on the fish before eating and a few pickles because every sandwich should be served with pickles. Can’t change my mind on that!
Lahori Fried Fish Sandwich
Ingredients
For Lahori Fried Fish:
- Shan Lahori Fried Fish Masala
- 2 pounds tilapia fillets
- vegetable oil, for frying
For Cole Slaw:
- 8 cups Cole slaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1½ tablespoons sugar
- ½ lime, juiced
- sprinkle of salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For Assembly:
- Cole slaw
- Fried Lahori Fish
- 8 hoagie rolls
- lime wedges, on the side
- pickles, on the side
- guacamole, optional
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl mix together all the Cole slaw ingredients except for the shredded cabbage and carrots. Sprinkle in salt and pepper and mix. Taste the dressing and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
- Add in the cabbage and carrot slaw to dressing and fold until fully coated. Taste again and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Set the Cole slaw aside in the refrigerator to let the cabbage soften and flavors mingle.
- Prepare the fish fillets by cutting in half and then cutting each half into smaller even pieces. You can probably get 6-7 pieces per fillet.
- In a bowl add in Lahor fish masala Shan Lahori Fried Fish Masala along with ½ cup water. Mix until batter forms.
- In a large pan or pot add in enough vegetable oil to cover the fish. Heat on medium-high heat until reaches around 350°F.
- To fry, dip dry fish completely in batter thoroughly coating. Shake excess batter off and lower slowly in heated oil. Add in enough battered fish to fill pan but not overcrowd. Fry fish for 1-2 minutes per side until golden brown and crisp.
- Use tongs or spider strainer to remove fish from oil and shake to remove excess oil. Place fried fish on a cooling rack to continue draining excess oil
Assemble Sandwiches:
- Cut hoagie roll in half (keeping the halves attached) and toast both sides on a dry frying pan on high heat.
- Once bread is toasted remove from heat. Add a bed of Cole slaw, few pieces of fish, and a little more Cole slaw on top. Optionally, you can spread some guacamole on the top half of roll. Close it up and serve.
- Serve with some lime wedges to squeeze over fish before eating and some pickles on the side.
- Enjoy!
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