I cook quite a lot for a less able person, who would find it impossible to shallow fry the fish-cakes I make for her, but who would be quite capable of taking them from frozen, or defrosting them, and baking them in an oven.
The ingredients (fish,potato,seasonings) are all cooked before frying, but the crumb (flour, egg-wash, dry breadcrumb) is not.
I imagine the commercially available oven-bake fishcakes have been treated in some way, in particular introducing fat, somehow, so the result of baking them is reasonably similar to the result of frying your own, and, of course, safe.
Has anybody any experience of preparing their own 'oven-fry' crumbed items that work in a similar way to the shop-bought ones?
Best Answer
I have experience with 2 methods:
The "parfrying" method:
The "parbaking" method:
Whichever of the above method you've used, your items are now ready to freeze (I always use the fast-freeze section of my freezer while they're still hot, but YMMV) and can then be re-heated in the oven at 175°C for 20 minutes if unfrozen or 35-40 minutes if frozen.
Note ¹: This is to ensure your oven is closed and stays at 150°C while you're turning them upside-down.
Note ²: The above method is for items about 2 thumbs in size. If your items would be smaller, (e.g. little balls), diminish the times above.
Note ³: Maybe there is a professional term for "parfrying" and "parbaking" but I'm not aware of any so just these as an analogy to parboiling, without the water... ;-)