{"id":2440,"date":"2020-06-12T18:07:07","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T18:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.veganfriendly.org.uk\/?post_type=food&p=2440"},"modified":"2020-06-16T08:27:21","modified_gmt":"2020-06-16T08:27:21","slug":"vegan-fish-chips","status":"publish","type":"food","link":"https:\/\/www.veganfriendly.org.uk\/food-drink\/vegan-fish-chips\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegan Fish & Chips"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FishFish and chips is as British as queuing in the drizzle for a red double decker bus. Sadly, whilst seagans and pescetarians eat fish, vegans do not<\/a>, so for a long time this evocative, romanticised and downright delicious dish was damnably doomed as far as vegans were concerned. Fish, we would have thought self-evidently, are animals, and so vegans prefer to see them swimming in the sea or a river than deep fried in batter.<\/p>\n

Chips are, like their slim line cousins crisps<\/a>, often vegan. However, some golden, fried potatoes from traditional fish and chip shops, especially in some parts of the country, are often cooked in beef dripping, essentially beef fat. If they aren\u2019t, there is every chance they may be fried in the same oil used to cook fish, battered sausages or other meaty no-nos.<\/p>\n

That said, chips are not really the main problem here. Potatoes, be they from a fish and chip shop, a restaurant, a caf\u00e9, a takeaway or prepared at home, can very easily be fried in any one of the many vegan cooking oils<\/a>. But fish? Fish are fish, and fish are animals\u2026 so, fish is a problem.\u00a0This is not, thankfully, an insurmountable problem, however. And, in fact, when it comes to vegan fish \u2013\u00a0vish \u2013<\/em>\u00a0if you prefer (we\u2019re undecided!), there are a number of different options.<\/p>\n

The Vegan “Seafood” Industry<\/h2>\n
\"Fish
Trying to recreate the classic fish & chips \u2013\u00a0seen above \u2013<\/em> has its challenges<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vegan \u201cseafood\u201d, what some people have called \u201cveefood\u201d, has lagged behind in the vegan market \u2013 probably because finding a substitute for fish is not so straightforward. Much of the focus in the vegan market has tended to be on imitation beef and chicken-style products, which makes sense as cows are the most environmentally problematic farmed animal. Moreover, in countries where veganism is most popular, such as the UK and the US, far more beef and chicken is consumed than seafood.<\/p>\n

The BBC reported<\/a> on the growing interest in vegan seafood but also quoted stats showing just how small the market is<\/a>.\u00a0They explained that:<\/p>\n

In the US, the country with the most vegan seafood start-ups, plant-based seafood made up only 1% ($9.5m) of the dollar amount of all retail sales of plant-based meat in 2019. (And plant-based meat, in turn, made up 1% of total meat sales.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But, as said, the times are changing and thankfully for fans of one of the UK\u2019s favourite meals, vegans who once loved \u2018real\u2019 fish and chips now have more great options than ever to tuck into vegan-friendly fish and chips instead.<\/p>\n

Plant-Based Fish Substitutes<\/h2>\n

Plant-based fish substitutes have been around for a long time but it is only relatively recently that the big food companies have invested time, money and effort into this area.<\/p>\n

Your favourite vegan uncle may have served a piece of jackfruit<\/a> with a shot of saltwater and claimed it was vegan fish once upon a time, but things have come a long way since then. Here are our favourite types of plant-based fish, in order of brilliance, some of which work perfectly as vegan fish and chips, others which are more multi-purpose.<\/p>\n

Vegan Fish & Chip Shop \u2018Fish\u2019<\/h3>\n
\"Vegan
Vegan ‘fish’ (banana blossom) & chips at Sutton & Sons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many \u201cnormal\u201d and mainstream fish and chips shops now sell vegan fish but there are even dedicated and entirely vegan outlets. There\u2019s even a \u201cvish and chips\u201d<\/a> shop in Yorkshire which, let\u2019s face it, is hardly known for its liberal, modern and dare we say it, woke, ways. Sorry, Yorkies.<\/p>\n

These work really well because making a crispy, crunchy vegan batter is easy enough and it is this, and the accompanying hit of salt and vinegar that gives the finished item most of its flavour and \u201cfish-and-chip-shop-ness\u201d. The batter can be just a mix of vegan beer and flour, or you can sub in one or more of the following: sparkling water, self-raising flour, baking powder, vinegar.<\/p>\n

Most fish and chips shops that serve a vegan fish use banana blossom, which is, as you might expect, the blossom from a banana tree! This is usually from Asia, typically Thailand or Malaysia, and is sold in some Asian supermarkets, as well as online at vegan specialists, such as the TheVeganKind Supermarket.<\/p>\n

It does a superb job of replicating the texture and flakiness of white fish, such as cod or haddock. It doesn\u2019t have the same taste but, on the plus side, you don\u2019t need to kill fish and nor do you need to damage the environment by farming them. Most shops add various ingredients to enhance the flavour and try to replicate the traditional taste, with soy sauce, seaweed, garlic and spices among the items most commonly employed for this purpose.<\/p>\n

Deep fried to perfection in hot vegetable oil and served with plenty of chips and a hearty slug of vinegar (or lemon if you\u2019re feeling Mediterranean!), getting vegan fish and chips from a proper chippy, or even a specialist vegan chippy, really is one of the best vegan treats around in our opinion! For maximum nostalgi,a eat outside in the drizzle whilst trying to fight off a seagull intent on removing your eyes, or at the very least your vish!<\/p>\n

Quorn Fishless Fillets<\/h3>\n

\"QuornWe take a much closer look at Quorn\u2019s vegan credentials<\/a> elsewhere on the site, and, in short, a lot of their range is vegetarian not vegan but more and more products are going entirely plant based. Whilst a lot of Quorn\u2019s more long-standing products contain some egg derivatives as a binder, they do have lots of fully vegan products too. The number of fully vegan Quorn options is growing and one of the newer ones is a great choice for vegan fish and chips at home.<\/p>\n

Early in 2019, Quorn launched their range of fishless fillets<\/a> and they have proved very popular with vegans and those trying to reduce the amount of meat (including fish) they consume. Within the range there are a number of options and at the time of writing these include:<\/p>\n

Quorn’s “Fish” Options<\/h4>\n