The Best Type Of Fish To Use For Restaurant-Worthy Fried Fish Sandwiches At Home

If you live near the coast and move away, you're eventually going to start craving the fish sandwiches you used to grab from your favorite local restaurant. Growing up in New Jersey and spending so much time at the beach meant fried seafood was a beloved staple for the first half of my life. Then as an adult I found myself living and working in the Midwest, which has plenty of its own delicious local food, but was sorely lacking in cheap, neighborhood seafood spots. So I had to embark on a quest to recreate the simple, crispy fish sandwiches I loved from back home — and one of the first things I learned was that the sandwiches I was dreaming of were always made with cod.

The truth is you can make a pretty great fried fish sandwich with almost any popular white fish. Haddock and pollock in particular won't let you down, but when you get down to what makes a great fish sandwich, cod edges them out. The big advantage is texture. For a fried fish sandwich you want something flaky and more on the firm side because the high heat of frying can make softer fish mushy. That's what makes cod ideal. It has thick, meaty flakes that are still tender, so you can fry it to a deep golden brown and still end up with a sandwich that has a satisfying bite to it.

When it comes to flavor, cod also beats out haddock and pollock in my book, but this is one area where the difference is less noticeable. All three are pretty mild, which is usually what most people want from a fish sandwich, but cod generally has a cleaner, less fishy flavor than the other two. In any case most people realize that most of the flavor is coming from the batter and toppings anyway. That's why a mild white fish like cod is the go-to for frying. You want a light taste to balance out the heavy batter and spices you use in the dredge and the rich tartar sauce.

However, just because cod is meaty and can hold up to frying doesn't mean you want to overwhelm it with too much batter. Like many people I prefer a beer-battered fish sandwich, which adds to the flavor, but also helps keep the texture light because of the carbonation. You don't want your batter too thick, either; You want just enough to lightly coat the exterior of the fish fillet and provide crunch. If it's too thick you'll end up with a batter sandwich instead of a fish one, and one that's also likely undercooked. But when you nail that balance of a nice shatteringly crispy layer of flavorful batter and a thick, flaky chunk of perfectly cooked fish? Man, there is nothing better, and cod gives you the best shot at getting there.