Fried Hake with Tartar Sauce
メルルーサのフライタルタルソースがけ
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
Hake (merluza) is a mild, flaky white fish that appears again and again on Japanese school lunch menus: it has no strong smell, very few bones, and it fries up beautifully straight from frozen. Here the fillets go into a thick egg-and-flour batter and a coat of panko, then are fried until golden and finished with a gently sweet homemade tartar sauce. The sauce is what wins children over, so I have included the full method for a perfectly cooked, easy-to-peel boiled egg. If you cannot find hake, any firm white fish such as cod or pollock works the same way.
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 67.5 gfrozen hake filletsHake (merluza) is a mild, soft white fish with few bones that is a staple in Japanese school lunches. Substitute: Cod, pollock, or any mild white fish fillet.
- 10.8 gegg
- 4.1 gflour
- 22.5 gegg
Seasonings
- a pinchpepper
- 0.8 gwater
- 9 gpanko
- 9 gvegetable oil
- 9 gmayonnaise
- 0.3 gsugar
- 1.2 gvinegar
- 0 gsalt
- a pinchpepper
- a pinchdried parsley
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- frozen hake fillets (冷凍メルルーサ)
- Hake (merluza) is a mild, soft white fish with few bones that is a staple in Japanese school lunches. Substitute: Cod, pollock, or any mild white fish fillet.
Directions
- 1
Keep the hake frozen and sprinkle both sides with pepper.
- 2
In a bowl, mix the beaten egg and flour, then add the water a little at a time, checking the consistency as you go (aim for a thick, heavy batter so the coating clings firmly to the fish).
- 3
Coat both sides of the hake in the batter from step 2, then press the panko onto the fish so it sticks well (use a hand that has not touched the batter to apply the panko; this keeps the coating from peeling off during frying).
- 4
Heat the oil to 170°C (340°F) and add the hake. After 2 to 3 minutes, turn the fillets over, and continue frying, turning as needed, for about 8 minutes in total.
- 5
Arrange on plates and spoon the tartar sauce over the top.
- 6
Tartar sauce: Pour enough water into a pot to cover the egg and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat to low, take the egg straight from the refrigerator, lower it gently into the water on a ladle, and boil for 12 minutes.
- 7
As soon as the egg is done, transfer it to ice water and leave it for about 5 minutes to take the heat off.
- 8
Tap the egg on a flat surface to make fine cracks all over the shell. Peel it under running water, then pat the surface dry with a paper towel.
- 9
Mash the egg (or chop it finely), add the mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, salt, pepper and dried parsley, and mix well. Chill in the refrigerator.
Cooking Notes
The salt and pepper in the tartar sauce are tiny amounts, so taste as you go and adjust to your liking.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 285 kcal | 570 kcal | 285 kcal |
| Protein | 17.3 g | 34.5 g | 17.3 g |
| Fat | 20.3 g | 40.5 g | 20.3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 9.1 g | 18.3 g | 9.1 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0.8 g | 1.5 g | 0.8 g |
| Calcium | 28.5 mg | 57 mg | 28.5 mg |
| Iron | 0.8 mg | 1.5 mg | 0.8 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 285 kcal | 17.3 g | 20.3 g | 9.1 g | 0.8 g | 28.5 mg | 0.8 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 570 kcal | 34.5 g | 40.5 g | 18.3 g | 1.5 g | 57 mg | 1.5 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
Cooking for bigger kids? See the elementary-school portion of this recipe.
