(upbeat music)
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- Hey, welcome to another FridgeCam.
Now, according to Google Trends,
the UK has been trending as most popular
for veganism in 2020,
ahead of countries like Australia and New Zealand.
- So we thought, why not take one of our favourite dishes,
fish and chips,
and challenge James to come up with a vegan version.
- Now James, you have been experimenting with just that.
- [James] Yep.
- Talk us through it.
- We're gonna experiment with a couple of
really popular fish substitutes,
aubergines and banana blossom,
which I'm not sure you guys have had,
and then we're gonna make the sauce,
a vegan version of tartar sauce,
and then we're gonna accompany it with
the normal chips and mushy peas.
- Sounds decent. Where are we starting?
- We're starting with the aubergine.
We're gonna blitz seaweed,
two different types, dulse and nori,
with a couple of teaspoons of salt,
and this is gonna go over our aubergines,
for five to six hours.
- Whoa.
- It's basically just like drawing out the moisture
from the aubergine.
(upbeat rock music)
- I'm intrigued by the curing process,
because when you cook aubergine,
it can be very slimy and wet
and I imagine this curing is gonna get past some of that.
- Yeah, I say cure it, it's really just like leaving it
in salt for a bit so that it draws out the moisture,
and I think it is exactly that, so it's not slimy.
(upbeat rock music)
- [Ben] You say not really fishy, but definitely umami.
- It's a great flavour.
Just gonna turn them over.
We started by kind of experimenting, here,
a little bit with banana blossom,
but we just didn't really like it,
so we're gonna try it today,
and I'm not 100% sure,
'cause I've never tried banana blossom fish and chips
whether we got it wrong,
or whether I just don't think it's as good.
This goes in the fridge for six hours,
so I'm gonna grab one that we did earlier.
- There we go.
- So you can see they're a little bit wet.
I think the aubergine's got some colour on it,
because aubergine just colours as soon as you crack it open.
- Like a banana.
- Yes.
- I heard the words "banana blossom"
for the first time five minutes ago.
- No!
- Quite literally the blossom, or the flower,
that sort of hangs underneath the cluster of bananas.
- Next up, tartar sauce. Without egg.
Cashews are a great substitute.
- What's it substituting?
Is it substituting the emulsification of the egg yolk?
- Yeah, cashews, you know.
It's fatty, it's creamy, so it's gonna give you
that kind of texture that you really want,
and I guess it'll also give you flavour.
We're gonna put boiling water over it,
and leave it for 15 to 20 minutes.
I'm just preparing my additional ingredients
for the mayo, so these are capers and gherkins.
Classic tartar sauce.
- So it's all the classic flavours of a tartar sauce.
- If it's shop-bought mayonnaise, it can be very cloying,
so it'll be interesting what the cashew nut does to this.
(bright rock music)
(cheers)
- Shall I cook some chips?
- Ooh, yes.
- We haven't got a lot to say about the chips,
because they're vegan.
- Are we going for slight, kind of,
soggy-in-a-paper-bag kind of chips,
or are we going for gastropub, triple-cooked chips?
- 100% soggy-in-a-bag chips.
- [Both] Yes!
- [Jamie] You're leaving the skins on.
- I am! Should I not be?
- I think typically, they would be skin off
in a chip shop chip, but I prefer them with skin on.
- [James] Yeah.
- Extra flavour, extra fibre,
it's where all the nutrients are.
- First fry, about 140? 150?
So it's not very hot,
it's literally just cooking them through.
- That's one of my favourite phrases: the first fry.
It means that there are more frys to come.
- I'm gonna have to do this in batches.
- I'm looking forward to seeing you make mushy peas,
because when we did a Pass It On a while back,
I didn't know how to make mushy peas,
and everyone in the comments was like,
"Eh! I know how to make mushy peas.
"How does he not know how to make mushy peas?
"I thought he was British!"
- I mean there's not a lot to mushy peas though, really.
- Yeah, but--
- They're just peas, mushed.
- You wouldn't typically make mushy peas from garden peas,
they would normally be marrowfat peas.
- Oh, here we go.
- And therefore, you get that
slightly more pulsey, legume element.
- Frozen peas.
All you need to do is put boiling water over them,
and they'll heat through, and they'll defrost,
and they won't overcook and go grey, or brown,
or whatever they go.
I'm gonna chop my parsley up, in the meantime.
Right, peas. Peas are drained.
Held back a little bit of the water.
I'm gonna blitz about half of them with the parsley,
and some wasabi.
(blender whirs)
Chips, coming out.
Right, the cashew nuts have been soaking
in boiling water for 15 minutes or so.
All the other ingredients now go in.
So dill, cider vinegar, Dijon mustard and xanthan gum.
And finally, the zest and juice of a lemon.
(mixer whirs)
That's probably pretty good.
You can see it's already pretty creamy,
so it's obviously adding some creaminess,
but let's see what happens with the oil.
- Oh, now that's different.
I was expecting you to slowly drip it in.
- Yeah, it all goes in, and then you slowly incorporate it.
(mixer buzzes)
I think it's done.
- Making good progress, James. Chips, round two.
Mushy peas, done. Tartar sauce, done. Aubergine, cured.
Last time we did fish and chips, as Pass It On,
you made the decision to go breadcrumbs.
- [James] I did.
- [Ben] What about today?
- We're going batter today.
I made the decision to go breadcrumbs,
because I thought it would be easier.
Turns out it was not a popular decision.
Okay, batter.
Plain flour, vodka, ginger beer and baking powder.
- [Ben] What's that, like a Moscow Mule?
- You're gonna have to rewind two of those steps.
- Ginger beer, because a lot of beer isn't vegan.
And then vodka evaporates very quickly,
compared to water or other liquid,
and so it makes the batter a little bit crispier.
Just whisking it so it's smooth,
but you don't really wanna overwork it,
because it won't be quite as crisp,
it'll be a little bit soggy.
That's our batter. I hope it works.
Chips are gonna go back in first,
because then we're gonna make them soggy.
I've got some banana blossom.
- I've never heard of banana blossom before,
so I am intrigued.
- Common in South-East Asia,
and was originally and traditionally used
as a way of adding more veg and fibre into a diet,
not as a meat substitute,
but it's been kinda picked up here and in the US
as a good alternative and a good substitute,
if you're trying to replicate
some of the characteristics of fish, for example,
because you can see, it kinda flakes, the way it forms.
I had it many, many, many, many, many years ago in Thailand.
- I think I'm just gonna keep them as-is,
and pat them dry a little bit,
and then just dip them and fry them.
These look pretty good.
- [Jamie] Do they? Do they?!
- Look!
- Oh, yes!
There's a problem though, mate.
They look far too crispy, sog 'em up!
- So, we'll go in with some salt, lots of salt.
Little bit of vinegar.
I've soaked a tea towel in water,
and it's going over the chips,
and they're gonna sit in the oven.
- It's the most silly thing, but it will work,
because soggy chips are somehow, like, a hallmark
of great fish and chips.
- So let's do the aubergine first.
So, just gonna put them through some flour,
and then put them through the batter.
I'm gonna season both.
I think these ones are the most fish-shaped.
That's important, right?
- And this is the conversation we come back to,
time and time again.
How much do you try and replicate,
and how much do you celebrate the shape of an aubergine?
(record scratching) - [Mike] Sorry, what?!
(laughter)
- You know what I mean.
I think it's important to celebrate vegetables
for what they are, and not always try and mimic.
(music starts)
So many meat products are already mimicking
parts of the human body.
Fish fingers, meatballs.
(record scratch)
- What are you talking about?
Why have you got a straight face?
I don't think that's a human body thing,
I think they're just, like, in ball shapes.
- In your mind, what are meatballs trying to replicate?
- What do you think?
I'm intrigued for the banana blossom,
because I know you said you weren't keen on the texture.
- [James] Yeah, I wasn't.
- But I wonder if that's because
they've been tinned and canned,
and I wonder if they're different when they're fresh.
- [Jamie] Yes! Ooh!
- I have some soggy chips. (laughter)
- [Ben] I definitely saw steam.
- I'm gonna start plating up.
Feels quite mayo-y.
- So much more vibrant than using the marrowfat peas.
- I'm gonna go chips on the other side.
The banana blossom has two minutes left,
this is done.
We can sit down, taste them, and compare.
(energetic rock music)
(bell dings)
(cheers)
- Good job, James.
- Well done, mate.
- You haven't tasted it yet.
- Straight off, it smells like fish and chips.
It looks like fish and chips, and I can 100% see
why banana blossom gets the comparison to fish,
because that looks bang on.
- [James] Let's taste it though, I don't know.
- [Jamie] Where are you going first?
- I'm gonna go banana blossom.
It sounds incredibly crispy, that batter.
- [All] Cheers.
- [Jamie] I really like that.
- Uh oh.
- That has exactly what I want from battered fish, about it.
It's got the crunchy, crispy outside,
you get a slight sog from the batter,
and then, you get flaky, moist insides.
- That was my side project, mate.
(laughter)
- I think if you eat a banana blossom on its own,
I don't think there's any confusion
that it's definitely not fish,
but with the batter, and a dollop of the tartar,
and you shut your eyes, I don't think you'd know,
and it's really good.
- Seeing as you've backed the aubergine
over the banana blossom,
you better hope the aubergine
lives up to what we've just tasted.
- The flavour from the seaweed is great.
- [Jamie] I would be so happy to be served that.
- I feel like the batter on the blossom
is actually a little crispier, a little better.
Maybe it was slightly hotter when I put it in or something.
- But I'll tell you what's also really good,
is that tartar.
When I ate it with the fish,
it just complemented it perfectly.
Now I'm trying to pick it apart, and look really closely,
and see, and I still can't really tell.
- Taste-wise, the cashews versus the eggs,
it doesn't make any difference.
- It's not missing anything, is it?
- No, not at all.
- So overall, I guess the real question is
which fish do you prefer?
Is it a pass, and which version would you like?
- 100% a pass for me, and I think the mushy peas
are inviting with an extra flavour,
the cashew kinda tartar is clever, soggy chips are good.
If I had to pick one or other,
I think I would go banana blossom.
- 100% pass from me.
- Thank you, sir.
- I don't know if I can decide between
the aubergine and the banana blossom.
They both do such a great job, not at replicating fish,
but in being fantastic dishes by themselves.
I can't pick one. I won't pick one.
I shan't.
- I might have changed my mind.
I think the banana blossom's really nice.
- Do we need to pick a winner?
Or is it actually just cool
to experiment with some new stuff occasionally?
That's the first time I've ever tried
banana blossom like that, and I'm kind of excited
to see what else you could do with it.
- Over to you guys. How did we get on?
If you liked it, give the video a like,
and comment down below and let us know,
what other vegan ingredients or dishes
should we be experimenting with next?
- [Voiceover] Do you ever have one of those days
where you just can't be arsed to cook anything?
Well, we certainly do, so we've put together volume two
of our best-selling club book, CBA 2 Cook.
It's a load of simple recipes which have been hacked,
by our chefs, to make life so much easier,
those days you just CBA.
Head to sorted.club/bookshop to get your copy.
And now for a blooper.
(beep)
- It's not your usual mushy peas.
- No. It has more pea-ness about it.