Lake Superior Shore Lunch
Shore lunches and fish fries are classic Midwestern fare. Staying true to this recipe’s roots, I use Ritz Cracker bread crumbs to coat fresh filets of whitefish from the Great Lakes. Be sure to serve alongside my homemade tartar sauce and a heaping pile of classic coleslaw inspired by my grandmother’s recipe.
Watch Andrew make this recipe:
Fried Whitefish with Classic Coleslaw
Ingredients
Tartar Sauce
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons parsley, minced
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons capers, minced
- 3 tablespoons sweet pickle, minced
- 2 tablespoons tarragon, minced
Whitefish
- 2 pounds whitefish filets, trimmed and cut into 4 to 5-ounce filets
- 1-quart vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
- 2 cups Ritz crackers, pulsed in a food processor to make bread crumbs
Coleslaw
- 5 cups thinly shaved cabbage, tossed with 2 tablespoons salt and drained in a colander for 6 hours
- 3 tablespoons parsley, minced
- 1 shallot, minced fine
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1 tablespoon ground celery seed
- 2 carrots, julienned
- 2 ribs celery, sliced thin
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 mayonnaise
- Sea salt and black pepper
Instructions
First, make the tartar sauce. Add the yolks, mustard and vinegar to a food processor and pulse. In a thin stream, emulsify the canola oil into this mixture with the food processor running. Next, add the olive oil in a thin stream to emulsify. Place in a mixing bowl and add the lemon juice and zest, capers, sweet pickle and tarragon. Refrigerate until chilled while you finish the recipe.
Heat your oil to 365 degrees F in a deep Dutch oven.
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs. Dredge the fish in the flour mixture. Dip into the eggs and then into the Ritz cracker bread crumbs. Fry the fish pieces in batches until golden brown, about 5 to 6 minutes. As the fish come out of the fryer, season with salt.
While the fish is frying, make the coleslaw. Gently squeeze the moisture out of the cabbage. Place in a mixing bowl and add the parsley, shallot, mustard powder, celery seed, carrots, celery, sugar and mayonnaise. Stir to combine, and season with salt and pepper.
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