Are you a lover of fried fish? Even if you are not a big fan of fish, fried fish always makes things interesting! In my house, we are all seafood lovers so we thrive on all kinds of fish – baked, pan fried, curried, sautéed, soups or chowders and so on and so forth! If you have my cookbook, AIP Indian fusion, you will see a lot of seafood recipes there precisely because of this reason!
Fish tenders/sticks are something that my children and my husband love and I had been wanting to create an AIP version. Tow weeks ago when I decided to give a try, I was out of plain cassava flour. But I did have Beth Blends Grain Free flour blend available. And I thought that it might actually be a better substitute for plain cassava flour since the blend already has some leavening agents that might result in crisper fish tenders! So glad I gave it a try!
The tenders came out perfectly crisp on the outside with tender flaky fish on the inside. I also rustled up a quick creamy cilantro dip that was a perfect dipping sauce for it !
What are the ingredients in AIP Fish Tenders?
- Beth Blends Grain free Flour blend (Red and White pack)- which consists of cassava flour, tapioca flour, coconut flour, baking soda, cream of tartar
- Any white fish filets – like Cod, Flounder, Tilapia, Swai etc. My favorite one is Flounder for this recipe.
- Coconut Milk: Organic canned like Native Forest is my preferred.
- Italian Seasoning mix : Make sure to use a blend that is AIP like this one.
- Sea Salt
What are the ingredients in the dip?
- Ripe Avocado
- Coconut milk
- Lemon juice
- Fresh Cilantro
- Sea salt
- 2 white fish filets about 4 oz each(I prefer flounder)
- A dash of salt and pepper(omit for AIP) to sprinkle on the fish
- ½ cup Beth Blend grain free blend
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning mix
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ cup coconut milk (make sure you thaw it in advance and shake the can to have a thick consistency)
- Avocado Oil about 2 cups for deep frying
- About ¼ cup water
- 1 ripe avocado, chopped
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- Cut the filets into about 1 inch by 2 inch pieces and dab dry using paper towels. Sprinkle a dash of salt and black pepper (if adding) on top of the filets. Keep aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add all the rest of the ingredients except the avocado oil and whisk to get a thick but smooth batter.
- Heat the oil for deep frying in a small wok or a deep cast iron pan.
- When the oil gets hot, take individual pieces of fish and coat with the batter (you will need to coat the fish using your hands as the batter won't stick easily) and drop into the oil. Fry about 4-5 pieces in a batch (so it can cook uniformly). Fry until both sides are golden brown and crisp (about 2-3 minutes total). Transfer to a plate. Finish frying the rest of the fish in the same way.
- Add all the dip ingredients into a small food processor jar and blend until creamy!
- Serve the fish while warm!
