Can you guess what the base of this vegan fried fish sandwich is? If you guessed that it's hearts of palm, you're right! I already have a vegan fried fish recipe but it calls for banana blossoms which can be a bit of a challenge to find unless you live near an Asian Market. I decided to recreate my vegan fried fish (fit for a sandwich) using hearts of palm which is very easy to find. I purchase mine from Walmart, Wholefoods, Target, local community grocery stores, you name it.

So if you can get your hands on some hearts of palm, MAKE THIS SANDWICH! I made this for my hubby and me a couple of weeks ago and when I tell you we were both shook, I mean it! He yelled from the room “Yoooooo this is sooooo good!” And at that moment, I flipped my hair and said “well duh, what did you expect” LOL kidding.

Serve this bad boy with some homemade tartar sauce and you are in business.

Here’s everything you’ll need:

hearts of palm
vegan fish sauce (optional - use soy sauce if you can’t find vegan fish sauce)
Crushed seaweed (I take a sheet of seaweed and add it to a food processor until it’s crushed up)
Plant milk
Hot sauce
Mustard
Vegan mayo
Sweet relish
Lemon juice
Oil for frying
You can either buy a premade fish fry mix or make your own using the below:
Flour
Cornmeal
Chickpea flour
Old Bay seasoning
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Cayenne pepper
Black pepper

When flattening out the hearts of palm, it should have the same shape as above. You will need to combine two of hearts of palm for a similar size and shape

Notes:

You will need two bowls for this recipe

If you do not have seaweed, try using kelp granules instead

If reheating, I would recommend using an air fryer

"Fish" Sandwich Ingredients:

2 cans of hearts of palm

3/4 tbsp Vegan fish sauce (optional)

¼ cup of crushed seaweed

Oil for frying (vegetable or grapeseed oil)

4 Hamburger buns

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Pickles

"Fish" fry breading mix (Bowl 1)

2/3 cup of flour

1/3 cup of corn meal

1/8 cup of chickpea flour

1/2 tbsps garlic powder

1/2 tbsps onion powder

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp old bay

Wet dipping batter (Bowl 2)

1/3 cup of plant milk

1 tsp hot sauce

1/4 tsp mustard

1 tbsp of the "Fish" fry breading mix from bowl 1

Tartar Ingredients:

1/2 cup of vegan mayo

3 tbsps of sweet relish

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

Instructions:

Add the tartar sauce ingredients to a small bowl and combine. Refrigerate for 30 minutes

Drain the canned hearts of palm and gently rinse them with water. Using a knife, slice one side of the hearts and gently flatten it out. Repeat this process for all pieces

Add the hearts of palm to a bowl along with the seaweed and vegan fish sauce. Use your hands to combine everything and refrigerate for 20 minutes

While the hearts of palm marinate, make the "fish" fry mix by adding the flour, cornmeal, chickpea flour, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, black pepper, and Old Bay seasoning to a small mixing bowl. Stir with a whisk

In a second bowl, make the "wet dipping batter" by adding plant milk, hot sauce, mustard, and 1 tbsp of the flour mix from step 3 to the bowl

Add 2-3 inches of oil to a frying pan and adjust to medium heat

Remove the hearts of palm from the refrigerator and create four "fillets"

Add the flattened hearts of palm to the wet batter and then to the flour mix. Shake off the excess flour. Place it back in the wet batter and then back in the flour mix. Repeat this process for the remaining hearts of palm "fillets"

Once the oil is hot, add the hearts of palm "fillets" and fry for 3-5 minutes or until golden and crispy. Place them on a cooling rack until you've finished frying all 4 pieces

Begin assembling the fried "fish" sandwiches by toasting the hamburger buns. Add some of the tartar sauce to the inside of both pieces of bread along with sliced tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and the fried "fish"

Serve with french fries, chips, or your choice of sides

Lastly, pat yourself on the back because YOU DIDDD THAT