How to make vegetarian fish and chips using Halloumi cheese.Recipe.
By GALAXY 59
This vegetarian fish and chips uses Halloumi cheese, which is a traditional Greek Cypriot cheese made from a mixture of sheep and goats milk. Halloumi cheese has a very high melting point which makes it ideal for grilling or frying. It is a firm white cheese with a very unusual texture and taste. It is slightly salty as it is traditionally sold in brine. Halloumi is readily available in most large supermarkets, for this recipe it is best purchased in square packets as opposed to the half round ones that are also on the market.
Which potatoes are best for making chips?
In my experience, the very best type of potato to use when making chips are King Edwards, Maris Piper or Rooster.They stay firm on the outside but are nice and fluffy on the inside. Chips might not seem all that healthy but there are things that you can do to help save on fat content and cut down on some calories.
This dish is never going to be a diet food but you can improve it a little and help to keep guilty feelings at bay. If you cut your chips on the thick side they will absorb much less fat than skinny ones, so remember chunky chips are better for you. Chips also contain quite high levels of vitamin C, particularly if you leave the skins on. If you use olive oil mixed in equal amounts with rapeseed or sunflower oil to cook the chips in the oven they will not only taste great but they will be a much healthier option than if you deep fried them.
Halloumi cheese.
Cyprus, home of the very best halloumi cheese.
cyprus - How to make vegetarian fish and chips using Halloumi cheese.
Just a quick word before anyone clicks off this hub in disgust, because fish isn't vegetarian, let me put your mind at rest, the 'fish' in this recipe is actually made of halloumi cheese! When I first became a vegetarian, many years ago, one of the meals I really missed was fish and chips. A bit of a cliche, I know, as I am British but it wasn't something I ate a lot of but I did miss it, I think it had a lot to do with the fact that suddenly I couldn't eat it. Fish and chips became my forbidden fruit. The more I knew I couldn't eat it, the more it became the only meal I really wanted to eat.
So imagine how pleased I was to find out that I could still enjoy a pretty good faux fish and chip meal whenever I wanted using good quality, Cypriot halloumi cheese. I quite often make this as a light lunch and have found that it is also a good thing to serve to meat eaters, as most people like cheese, whereas a lot of non vegetarians don't like tofu or quorn. I think it has a lot to do with the texture of meat substitutes, that isn't much of a problem with this dish. Halloumi has often been likened to the taste and texture of swordfish, it really is something you have to try, it is hard to describe to someone who hasn't given it a go.
Recipe for vegetarian fish and chips.
Ingredients
I-2 packets of Halloumi cheese
125 g plain flour
¼ tsp white pepper
¼ tsp salt
Few drops of vegetable oil for the batter and enough to cover the ‘fish’ as it fries.
125 ml warm milk and water, about half and half
1tsp baking powder
400g potatoes
Method
Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl, make a well in the middle of the flour and then add the oil and a small amount of the half milk, half warm water mixture. Stir slowly bringing down more and more of the flour mixture until it is all combined. Beat well until it is very smooth, you can do this by hand or use an electric beater. For an extra crisp batter mixture add an extra spoonful of baking powder to the dry ingredients.
Wash the potatoes but do not peel. Cut them into wedges or chunky chip shapes and spread them out onto a lightly greased baking sheet, sprinkle them with salt and pepper to taste. Place the baking sheet onto the middle shelf of an oven pre heated to 180c, they will take approximately forty minutes to cook depending on how chunky you have made your wedges. Once the wedges are cooked and golden turn the oven down as low as it will go and leave the wedges to keep hot. They won’t burn but will stay hot and crispy until you are ready to serve them.
Cut the Halloumi into either thick finger shapes, wedges cut to resemble fish filets or simply cut into chunks. Pat the cheese shapes dry with kitchen towels or a clean tea towel and then dip them into the batter mixture making sure that they are completely coated.
Shallow frying the halloumi in a frying pan.
Heat the oil to 150c, this dish is best cooked in a deep fat fryer, but if you don’t have one of those you can use a large heavy based saucepan instead, or even a shallow frying pan, but be very careful not to overfill it as the hot oil can easily bubble over with disastrous results.
Drop the battered cheese pieces into the hot oil one at a time, do not overload the pan as it’s better to cook the cheese in batches than risk it burning or sticking to the pan. Once cooked drain well onto absorbent kitchen paper. You can always put the cooked pieces onto a tray and keep them hot in the oven with the wedges or chips.
Serve with minted peas, mushy peas, or a nice tossed green salad, and garnish with fresh parsley, lemon wedges and a little tartar sauce. Delicious.
This wonderful faux fish and chip meal can be followed by a nice cup of coffee and a few vegan friendly florentine biscuits. I'm sure that you will enjoy this recipe as much as my family do, please comment below and let me know what you thought of it if you do give this one a go.
For even more veggie recipes, help and advice on maintaining a healthy vegetarian lifestyle and tips please check out my new blog.
The finished meal. Vegetarian fish, chips and mushy peas.
Please take the time to answer this very short poll.
If you have ever tasted halloumi cheese cooked this way, do you think it tastes like fish?
See results without votingComments
Trust me it tastes great with a little salt and vinegar, it really does taste a lot like real fish and chips. Let me know what you think after you've given it a go.
Yumm, I love halloumi cheese but never thought of using it in this way, thanks Galaxy.
Thank you for commenting MPG, Halloumi is a great cheese and very vesatile.Do let me know what you think if you try this.
I heard about this method as it was an option at a pub I visited in London. (Prospect of Whitby - London's oldest riverside pub)
I thought it was a great idea because I had heard a few people describe Halloumi as "The cheese that thinks it's swordfish"
Going to put your recipe to the test so thanks for putting it up online.
You know, it does taste a bit like swordfish, now that you come to mention it.I hope you enjoy the dish.
This sounds delicious! I love halloumi, and will definitely give this one a go.
Thanks Christina A, let me know if you enjoyed it when you do make this great little dish for yourself.
Galaxy 59 - we had the halloumi fish and chips tonight. It was lovely. Definitely needed some tartare, but that was more to counterbalance the saltiness of the cheese I think. My girls didn't like it, but my husband and I managed a slab of it between us!
So glad you and your husband enjoyed this dish, Christina A. I know my son isn't too keen on it either because he thinks it tastes too much like fish. Tartar sauce really does compliment this so well, doesn't it. thank you so much for letting me know that you tried this recipe and enjoyed it.
Very creative use of halloumi, which I love. I (sigh) also miss fish since becoming a vegetarian, so will definitely try this, it sounds and looks delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
Germaine Reilly - thanks for commenting. I know what you mean about missing fish, I still love the smell of it cooking even after years of being a vegetarian. This recipe is quite a good substitute though. Try making small pieces into goujons, They are great for parties or as a starter.Let me know what you think when you try it.
I made this tonight and OMG it was delicious. I felt a bit sick afterwards because it was so rich, but I would imagine that's the real fish and chips experience!! I haven't eaten fish and chips for over 19 years, so I can't comment on whether it tasted 'right' but the way the batter looked and the soft, squeaky warm texture of the halloumi made me think it was sort of fishy! Great recipe!
Thank you so much Veggie Girl for letting me know that you gave this dish a try. I agree with you it is very rich. I always have quite a small portion of 'fish', try making the batter a little lighter by adding some beer instead of the milk. I am so glad you thought this one was delicious, it is one of my favourite dishes.
My pleasure! It really is delicious. I have also tried using a shop bought 'fish shop style' batter mix (just just add water and mix), which produces a very tasty batter if you're feeling lazy, as I often am by the time I get in from work!! Halloumi rocks.
This looks authentic and from the comments above tastes great too. I shall give it a go. I'm on the look out for different veggie recipes as I tend to just throw stuff together at the last minute. Thanks.
Do give this recipe a try tebo, it does taste great. Let me know what you think of it. Thank you for commenting.
Mmmm halloumi is great, never thought of having it battered with chips I must say! Wonder if I could persuade our local chippy to get this on the menu, instead of their only veggie option of msg-laden spring rolls...
Yes halloumi is great StarCreat. As for getting your chippy to serve it, well, you could give it a try. Let me know if and how you manage to persuade them as I'll try with my local too.
It is great - try it with a beer batter (or one using just soda instead of beer) for a version without mik in the batter - it's wonderfully crisp
Thanks, Dan. I will try that version next time I have this dish.
Fascinating and interesting hub!
Thanks for commenting WillSteinmetz.
How many does the veggie 'fish' and chips recipe serve? I am keen to try it on my four girlfriends - two are veggie (5 people) - so this would be great!!
Jenjabe, I would at least double the amounts given in this recipe. If you serve it with peas and bread and butter it should be fine, depending on how hungry you and your friends are. I know in my family we eat almost a whole packet of Halloumi each, but we are pretty greedy when it comes to this dish! Please let me know what everyone thinks about their meal.
Hi! Actually, Halloumi cheese is made with rennet, which is not vegetarian, unless it's vegetarian rennet. I didn;t have rennet, but I made faux Halloumi from scratch - with lemon juice instead of rennet. http://littlecolumnist.blogspot.com/2012/02/favori
Hope you like it! If you can boil spaghetti, you can make cheese!
Hi there Beka, I always use vegetarian halloumi cheese for this dish made using veggie rennet. Most cheeses have a vegetarian version clearly marked as such, at least over here in the UK. I have tried making my own vegetarian cheese before using veggie rennet,and it tasted pretty good, but the shop bought stuff is very good, cheap and is quite easy to find.
I hope you enjoyed this dish.
This looks & sounds delicious. I am not familiar with halloumi cheese, so I will have to be on the lookout for it next time I go to the grocery store. Thanks for sharing, voted up & useful!
Oh I'm definitely trying this. I've never even heard of this cheese before. Thanks!
Thank you veggie-mom. This cheese is well worth finding, it tastes wonderful, and is perfect for cooking.
Thank you, HarperDavis,Let me know what you think of it.
So excited to find this recipe! Just spent 4 days in London and my first meal was vegetarian fish and chips just like this! It was so good I also made it my last meal! We have nothing like this in Australia and so I'm keen to see if my local chippy might put this on the menu too!
Thanks KellyDwyer, I am so glad you found this recipe too.It is one of my favourite meals, I just love it! I really hope you can introduce it to your wonderful country.Let me know how you get on.
Thank you for commenting.
askjanbrass 2 years ago
What an interesting twist and extremely clever way to "vegetarian-ize" this classic dish. I would have expected tofu or some other textured protein to replace the "fish." Looking forward to making this.