This article is part of a series that will uncover the secrets of the food processing industry and share with you the secrets of how your favorite food is made.
The first article in this series begins with the humble stick or fish stick. A childhood treat and grown-up favourite, either on a plate with peas and chips or between slices of white bread. BUT it is always served with tomato sauce.
The fish
The first component is the Fish, this is a frozen block about 2 feet by 1 foot by 3 inches. It’s made from skinny fish (cheapest end of the market) and tends to be all leftover fish bits. Or it can be made with whole fillets that are layered on top of each other (the more expensive end of the market).
To be nutritionally honest, there isn’t much of a difference between the two. The type of fish can be COD for the expensive end or haddock for the cheaper sticks. These blocks are made within a few hours of disembarking from the ship, which means that the fish is about 6 hours old when frozen.
making the stick
Using a food processing band saw, skilled operators cut the block into slabs and then cut it back into fingers. The more expensive – thicker the finger, the cheaper – thinner. A typical good fish stick will be around 1cm thick, while the cheapest might be 0.5cm. These sticks are then separated and proceed to the coating stage.
Add the breadcrumb
Similar to what you see in restaurants or TV shows, the fish is covered in a batter and then breadcrumbs. BUT this is really where the cheapness is added. If you buy cheap fish sticks they will add a layer of water, a layer of flour, a layer of batter, a layer of crumb. In the trade this is called 4 passes and you can add up to 70% breadcrumb to the stick. This type can often be identified because it is very crunchy and has almost no fish in it. Higher end fish sticks will have a 3 step system and often have around 60% fish content.
So in your 300g pack of fish sticks you could have 90g of fish (cheap) or 210g (expensive)
All this process is carried out through a food processing production line of automatic coating machines. Usually one line can produce 100-200 fish fingers per minute.
frying time
Up to this point, the fish stick is quite healthy and almost fat-free… However, the stick goes through an industrial fryer that has hot oil. This makes the coating crispier, this is because the water in the coating is replaced with very hot oil. Usually all the water in the coating is replaced with fat.
This means that the more coating, the more fat, now food processors often use vegetable oil or rapeseed oil. Neither of which have saturated fat.
Frozen and smells like a freezer
Within 30 minutes of frying, the product has been frozen and bundled to then be placed in the food processing packaging machine before shipping to stores.
Considering the speed of the fish freezing process and the canning process, you can’t make a fish stick any fresher if you try.
final verdict
Fish Sticks, compared to other battered products such as chicken strips, are healthier, fresher, and have fewer additives. So I would definitely put fish sticks before other coated products.
If I’m choosing a fish stick, try to get one that is high in fish, this is usually shown as a % in the ingredient statement. This often means that it is made with whole fish, not lean, and has a lower fat content.
The type of fish doesn’t really matter, some will say a cod stick is best, but let’s be honest, we’ll be dipping it in Ketchup. Once you’ve done that, I doubt you’ll be able to tell the difference, except that your wallet is a little less full.
Every week I plan to reveal how everyday food products are made.
