Lemon, garlic and parsley battered hake

My mom has told me endless tales of how she used to eat a lot of pork sausages while growing up and how much she loves them, even now. I’ve heard umpteen times the stories of when she was young and wouldn’t eat anything else, except pork sausages!  Back in the day, my grandparents had to ask the cooks at restaurants to make pork sausages especially for my mom. Even now as we add pork sausages to our weekly menu at home, I see a little sparkle in her eye. On occasions, when she is really excited about it, she starts singing aloud (or maybe screaming – depending on how you choose to hear it); ‘I love sausages! I love sausages!’ and shaking her legs around in excitement.  

 Just as much as my mom loves her pork sausages; I love seafood. Not as obsessive as my mom was in her younger years; but at least once a week I have fish, chips and salad. Even though it’s such a regular dish and generally served routinely on Mondays or Tuesdays; I find I still look forward to and eat it like it’s a treat. At restaurants, I find myself tempted by seafood and occassionally land up eating at an exclusively seafood serving restaurant.  I can’t express how much I love seafood, it is my ultimate favourite; and I look at it as my default dish that my taste buds are programmed to go crazy for.

We all have our default dishes, which are our safe meals and the ones we love regardless of how many times we routinely have or ask for them. This week I want to share one of the favourite seafood dishes in my house hold. It was introduced to us by a Portuguese family a few houses away from ours in our little complex. It’s extremely easy to make and in only 30 minutes it will be ready to eat. It’s not too messy either. If you are a seafood lover this will be a winner – it’s delish! Serve it with a fresh salad and crispy chips – yuuummmmyyyy!

Ingredients:

⅓ Cup lemon juice

6 Pieces Hake

½ Cup plain flour

1 ½  Tbsp Chopped parsley

2 tsp Chopped garlic

Sunflower oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a bowl, marinade the 6 hake pieces (thawed) in the lemon juice, garlic and 1 tablespoon (Tbsp) parsley. Leave it to marinade for 10 – 15 minutes. In a pan, pour a thin layer of oil and preheat on a high temperature. Have the flour in a bowl; season it with salt and pepper. Lightly dry the fish pieces and coat them in the flour. Once coated, place in the hot oil and lightly fry until golden brown, adjust the setting to a medium heat so the fish can cook through. Each piece should not take longer than 2 minutes (depending on the size and thickness of each piece). Once your fish has been fried, sprinkle the rest of the parsley over the crispy, golden pieces of hake.

Serves 3