Grown-Up Fish Sandwich with Scallion Aioli

What a wonderful sandwich!  I really enjoyed this. Its a fried sea bass patty on a potato onion bap topped with endive, radish, avocado, and onions with a scallion aioli spread. The flavors and textures were delicious. And while it’s an enormous sandwich, my taste buds were saying “more” when there was none left.

 

It was a year ago that I found a recipe for fish sticks with a ramp aioli in Food and Wine Magazine by Shea Gallante. I made them and  they were simple and delicious. The aioli was magnificent. I have been thinking about those fish sticks for a while now and wanted to enjoy the flavors in a non-stick form. So I decided to come up with this sandwich and pick flavors that I thought would compliment the fish and aioli. I love the finished product and definitely plan to make it again.

With the weather starting to turn to warmer and brighter days, this colorful sandwich is the perfect answer to the need for something light yet filling. Hope you enjoy it too!

 

INGREDIENTS

Scallion Aioli

4 large ramps or scallions, cut into 2-inch lengths

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons apricot jam

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 small garlic clove

1 teaspoon dry English mustard mixed with 1 tablespoon of water

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

Fried Fish

1 quart vegetable oil, for frying

2 skinless sea bass (about 6-8ounce each)

2 cups buttermilk

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

 

Sandwich Ingredients

2 Potato Onion Bap Rolls (or rolls of choice)

1/2 Avocado

1 lemon (for spritzing)

1 lime (for spritzing)

1 tsp olive oil

1 medium red onion

1 endive

2 individual radishes

Salt & pepper to taste

 

 

DIRECTIONS

Scallion Aioli:

In a saucepan of boiling water, cook the ramps just until bright green, 30 seconds. Drain, cool under water and pat dry. In a blender, puree the ramps, mayonnaise, soy sauce, lemon juice, apricot jam, ginger, garlic and mustard paste until smooth. With the machine on, drizzle in the olive oil until emulsified. Season with salt, transfer to a bowl and refrigerate.

 

Red Onions:

Cut entire onion into thin circular strips. In small saucepan, drizzle 1 tsp of olive oil and put on medium heat. Add onions and let sweat in pot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for a couple of minutes until wilted but not overly soggy. Take out of pan and let rest on a plate, put aside.

 

Vegetables:

Endive: Clean and break off each leaf individually. You will want about 3-4 leaves per sandwich. Put aside.

Radishes: Each sandwich takes one radish. Slice each radish into very thin slices. Sprinkle generously with fresh lime juice. Season with salt and put aside.

Avocado: Each sandwich takes ¼ avocado. Slice avocado into thin long slices. Sprinkle with fresh lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Put aside.

 

Fried Fish:

In a large saucepan, heat the vegetable oil to 375°. Line a baking sheet with a rack and cover the rack with paper towels. In a bowl, coat the fish pieces with the buttermilk. In a large, resealable plastic bag, add the flour, Old Bay, coriander and 1 teaspoon of salt. Drain the fish pieces, shaking off the excess buttermilk and transfer them to the bag. Seal the bag and shake until the fish is well coated. Carefully remove the fish pieces, shaking off any excess flour. Fry each fish one at a time over high heat, turning once, until golden and cooked through, about 3-5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to the rack and sprinkle with salt. Then sprinkle with a few drops of lime juice. Repeat with the remaining fish.

 

Creating Sandwich:

Warm rolls up a little. Slice baps rolls in half and spread scallion aioli on both the inner top and bottom of roll.  On the bottom half, place the endive slices. Then place the fish on top. Next, place the radish slice on top of the fish. After that add the onions and then the avocado. Top with the other half of the roll and enjoy!