Fish On Your Plate

By FARIDAH BEGUM


You may not like fish but it’s a different story when you choose fish and chips.

I HATE fish.” Such is the common exclamation by most children whenever parents try to feed them this good nutritional piece of meat that contains some of the nutrients we need.

However, these battles come to a complete end when you serve fish and chips.


Yummy: Fish and Chips is a popular take-away food which originated in Britain.

In fact, when you take the children out to a restaurant that serves Western food, almost on a score of two to one, they would settle for fish and chips.

No, it is never the chips that is the drawing factor but rather the tart and sinfully looking tartare sauce that draws most appetites to fish and chips.

Its creamy and sourish taste tends to send most people eating up their meal and before they realise how they had spent the last five minutes totally in tune with their fish and chips and not with the conversation swirling around them, the fish is gone and so are the chips!

According to Wikipedia: “Fish and chips (sometimes written ‘fish ‘n’ chips’) is a popular take-away food which originated in the United Kingdom. It consists of deep-fried fish (traditionally cod, haddock or flounder) in batter or breadcrumbs with deep-fried chipped (slab-cut) potatoes.

“Popular tradition associates the dish with the United Kingdom; and fish and chips remains very popular in the United Kingdom and in areas colonised by people from the UK in the 19th century, such as Australia, New Zealand, and parts of North America (New England, the Pacific Northwest and Canada generally). Fish and chips also have considerable popularity in the Republic of Ireland, and South Africa. Establishments in Denmark and in some coastal towns in Norway serve fried fillets. In the Netherlands, the popular deep-fried, battered fillet dish called lekkerbek sometimes appears served with chips.

“The British usually serve thicker slabs of potato than the ‘french fries’ popularised by major multinational US hamburger-chains. In their homes or in non-chain restaurants, people in or from the USA may eat a thicker type of chip, called ‘home fries’ or ‘steak fries’.”

Fish and Chips is usually on the menu of most coffee houses and restaurants, especially those who serve both local and western cuisine.

If you are looking for some good old fish and chips, try Coliseum Cafe in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur, which serves authentic English fare.

One of the latest in the capital city is the dish’s namesake – The Magnificent Fish and Chips Bar at 28 Changkat Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur. True to its name, the place certainly lives up to its British attitude and it is definitely as noisy and brash as any English pub would get. Though a tad pricey, the fish and chips here is authentic with choices of barramundi, cod, dory and salmon for the meal.

The Fish & Co at Bangsar Village also serves a nice and crunchy fish and chips.

The Manhattan Fish Market, which has several outlets at Mid Valley Megamall, Alamanda Putrajaya, Subang Parade, Suria KLCC, Ikano Power Centre, Sogo Kuala Lumpur, Penang and even in Johor Baru, serves fresh and good seafood but the fish and chips is especially good here.

Outside of the Klang Valley, the Bayleaf Restaurant and Shahzan Inn in Kuantan both serve commendable Fish and Chips. At Bayleaf, the fish comes enclosed in a crunchy batter while the chips is your common shoe-string fries.

However, at Shahzan Inn, the fish and chips comes with two large fillets, enveloped in a thin and tasty batter while the chips are thick and soft inside. For indulgence, request for extra tartare sauce to eat with your chips.

If you are on a shoe-string budget and want to serve good fish and chips at home, shop at the frozen department of the supermarket for a choice of fish in batter by Gorton’s, an imported brand or go Malaysian with our Malaysian brand Pacific West, which has many varieties of fish in batter. A good try would be the Alaskan Pollock, which comes in a true British batter and tastes exactly how fish and chips ought to.

Whatever you choose, don’t forget to balance off your meal with some greens and lots of water to wash away the grease.