Fried Flounder

Old Post Office
E Dist0 Island, South Car0li Na

Frying is an art in the Lowcountry, and nowhere is it done more deliciously than at the
Old Post Office, a restaurant that is at once local and worldly, down-home and daring.

"This is the best fried fish sandwich out there," declares chef Philip Bardin. There are
two reasons fish sandwiches hereabouts are extraordinary. First, the pieces of fish used
are huge. Indeed, we have been to some restaurants in which the "flounder sandwich" is
only nominally a sandwich. Really it's two pitifully small-looking pieces of bread on
either side of a gigantic crisp-fried fillet. You do eat it like a sandwich, and the bread
is most helpful in getting the fish to your mouth, but in such cases the taste of the
bread is inconsequential. The second reason South Carolina flounder sandwiches are special
is the flounder itself. The flounder you find in restaurants along the mid-Atlantic coast,
from the Chesapeake Bay to Savannah, is whiter, creamier, and sweeter=AD fleshed than the
fish that is called flounder everywhere else. It seems like a whole different species.

Most of the Carolina flounder sandwiches we've had have been very basic. As men=AD tioned,
they come on plain bread, and the only available condiment is tartar sauce.

Chef Bardin transcends that by adding sweet Vidalia onion slices and artichoke relish,
creating a tartar sauce with vegetable verve. The result is nothing short of spectacular.

Note that you need to make the tartar sauce well in advance.

Makes 2 sandwiches

1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs, beaten
Kosher salt
1 large flounder fillet (at least 12 ounces), cut in half
2 cups peanut oil
1 cup all-purpose flour, mixed with 1 cup fine cracker crumbs or meal
Fresh lemon juice
Vidalia onion, sliced into thin rings
Olive oil
Freshly ground pepper
4 slices top-quality rye bread
2 large leaves Bibb or Boston lettuce
Artichoke Tartar Sauce (recipe follows)

Mix the buttermilk, eggs, and 1 tablespoon kosher salt in a wide, shal=AD low bowl. Soak
the flounder fillet halves in this mixture for 20 minutes. Heat the peanut oil in a large
skillet until very hot (at least 400 degrees). Place the flour mixture in another wide,
shallow bowl. Remove the flounder from the buttermilk mixture and dredge it in the flour
mixture. Fry the flounder in the hot oil, turning it once, for about 3 minutes per side.
Remove when just done, sprinkle with lemon juice, and set aside. Brush the Vidalia onion
slices with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper to taste. In a
separate skillet, or better yet on a countertop grill, cook the onion slices until tender.
Set them aside. Toast the rye bread in the same skillet after removing the onion. Place a
lettuce leaf on 1 piece of bread. Top with a cooked flounder fillet and then some of the
onion slices. Let stand for at least 3 minutes for the flavors to marry. Spread half of
the artichoke tartar sauce on the top piece of bread, place the top piece on the sandwich,
and slice in half. Repeat with the remaining bread, lettuce, fish, onion slices, and
tartar sauce to make another sandwich.

Artichoke Tartar Sauce

Artichoke relish is available in many gourmet food stores, and there is nothing better
alongside porky butter beans. Artichoke relish can be mail-ordered from Carolina FoodPros
(877-7282783; www.carolinafoodpros.com)
..

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Dash of Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoons artichoke relish

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6
hours or overnight.

Roadfood Sandwiches by Jane & Micheal Stern


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