Lunch Week 9: Cod Fish Pita Sandwiches

So every Sunday, I head over to the kitchen to whip up a big batch of food for lunch next week. Yes, I brown bag. And I almost always do it, unless I become too busy to even buy cold cuts from the deli. I do it for several reasons being health, finance, and laziness. Now, you may think that spending hours on a day off to prep and cook five meals at once is hardly lazy. But let me remind you, I hate it when the time comes to decide what to eat for lunch every day. I work in Midtown so the choices are endless. My problem, the more choices, the harder it is for me. So it's much easier for me to have my lunch ready and already decided.

So my lunch for the week: Cod Fish Sandwiches

Man oh man did I miss sandwiches. The lamb sandwiches last week were awesome. So I decided to do it again but this time with fish. I'm a huge fan of fried fish sandwiches. I don't know where I got it from but the crispy crust and flaky fish inside just makes me really happy.

So off I went to make some cod fish patties. First, I defrosted my big ol' bag of fish filets.

Then into a pan with salt, pepper, oil, and dark soy sauce. I roasted it in the oven at 375oF for about 30 minutes until fully cooked through.

The fish comes out moist, really flavorful from the soy sauce, and delicious. I let it cool and worked on the other components.

First the potatoes. I used 2 large russet potatoes as a binder for my patties. I diced them up and cooked them in salted boiling water until soft. Then into a food mill and processed smooth.

As the potatoes boiled, I worked on the other veggies. Here's one fennel bulb that I'm in the process of dicing up as well.

Same goes for one green bell pepper.

Some carrots.

Red onion and garlic.

I heated up a large pan with oil then cooked the vegetables until soft. At the end, I added salt. This is different from when I usually add salt (normally at the beginning) because I wanted the vegetables to retain their shape and texture. I didn't want mush.

As the vegetables cooled slightly, I flaked up the fish using a fork until I got small pieces.

Add the potatoes and vegetables mixture. Combine until they start to stick together. Taste for seasoning.

Then prep for your breading. I like to use panko crumbs because of the crunch that they give. Regular bread crumbs work as well but I find that panko stays crunchy for longer.

So I formed patties with my hands (dipped in water first) then used an egg wash then the panko crumbs. When all the patties are formed, I placed the sheet pan in the oven at 375oF until the out is golden brown.

Before baking the patties, you can add some oil on top and on the bottom for more color. But for health reasons, this was enough for me.

As the fish patties cooled, I prepped the rest of the sandwich. Avocados was on sale that day so I mashed some up with salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar.

I took some pita and cut it into 4 pieces. These were pocketless (my mistake) so I made the sandwiches this way. Otherwise, feel free to place the fish into the pita pockets. Anyway, mustard on one side and guacamole on the other. The fish is cut in half and placed on the mustard side. I pushed down on it a little so that it flattened a little bit. Then slices of cucumbers, tomatoes, and boston lettuce is place on top.

Sandwich the other pita on top and there you go.

I really enjoyed this sandwich because the panko bread crumbs really held up well. The fish didn't have a bad off taste. In fact, the soy sauce did wonder for the flavor. The fish meat wasn't masked by much filler. The smoother potato mixture was perfect. The vegetables dotted in  the patty added a nice textural and flavor contrast. Lastly, the tang of the mustard and the creaminess of the avocados really reminded me of summer. Though it's still cold here, this brings back memories of warmer times. Spring are you here yet?