Crispy Herb-Crusted Fish Fingers with homemade mayonnaise

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Crispy Coating

1. 1
   Spread the flour on a flat plate.

   💡The flour dries the surface, the egg sticks to it and holds whatever comes next. Without the flour, the coating tends to peel off during frying.
2. 2
   Beat the eggs in a wide bowl.

   Bowl

   💡Work with one "dry" hand for the dry coating and one "wet" hand for the egg, so your fingers don't get caked in layers of coating.
3. 3
   On another flat plate, mix the crumbs with the paprika and parsley.

For the Dipping sauce

1. 4
   Put the egg, mustard, salt and black pepper in the blender jar and blend about half a minute.

   BlenderorStick blenderorFood processor
2. 5
   Add the oil in a thin, slow stream, while the blender is running, until a thick emulsion forms.

   Blender

   💡The thin stream is everything: fat that goes in too fast can't bind, and the sauce breaks. For mayonnaise and hollandaise, if this happens, start with a fresh yolk and slowly add the broken sauce to it; if the sauce is too thick, thin it with a teaspoon of water.
3. 6
   Add the lemon juice and stir. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
4. 7
   In a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, pickles and lemon juice.

   Bowl

To assemble

1. 8
   Pass each cutlet through the breading stations in order, pressing well so the coating sticks.
2. 9
   Heat the oil in a pot to 170–180°C (340–355°F) and fry 2–3 minutes per side, until the coating is golden and crisp.

   StoveSlotted spoonCandy/oil thermometerPot

   💡Keep the oil at 170–180°C: too cold, and the food soaks up oil; too hot, and it browns outside before the inside cooks. Without a thermometer, dip the tip of a wooden spoon in the oil: when medium bubbles form around it right away, the oil is hot enough.

   💡Don't overload the oil: every piece that goes in cools it down. Fry one piece as a test, then the rest in several batches, and transfer to paper towels.
3. 10
   Transfer to paper towels.
4. 11
   Serve hot with the tartar sauce.