View source for Fish finger

{{Short description|Breaded processed fish}}
{{Redirect|Fishstick|the Fortnite character|Fishstick (Fortnite)}}
{{Redirect|Fishsticks|the South Park episode|Fishsticks (South Park)|}}
{{Infobox food
| name               = Fish fingers
| image              = Fishfinger classic fried 2.jpg
| caption            = Fried fish fingers
| alternate_name     = Fish sticks
| course             = 
| served             = 
| country            = [[United Kingdom]]
| region             = 
| main_ingredient    = [[Whitefish (fisheries term)|Whitefish]] or Pinkfish, [[batter (cooking)|battered]], or [[breaded]]
| variations         = 
| calories           = 
| other              = 
| cookbook           = 
}}
[[File:Fishfingers on parchment paper.JPG|thumb|Baked fish fingers on baking paper]]
[[File:Fishfinger classic broken 2.jpg|thumb|Filling inside a fish finger]]

'''Fish fingers''' ([[British English]]) or '''fish sticks''' ([[American English]]) are a [[Food processing|processed food]] made using a [[Whitefish (fisheries term)|whitefish]] or pinkfish, such as [[cod]], [[hake]], [[haddock]], [[shark]], [[salmon]], or [[pollock]], which has been [[batter (cooking)|battered]] or [[breaded]] and formed into a rectangular shape. They are commonly available in the [[frozen food]] section of supermarkets. They can be [[baked]] in an oven, [[Grilling|grilled]], [[Shallow frying|shallow fried]], or [[Deep frying|deep-fried]].

==History==
The term "fish finger" is first referenced in a recipe given in a popular British magazine in 1900,<ref>{{cite web|title=History of Fish Fingers|url=https://www.foodsofengland.info/fishfingers.html |work=Foods of England|access-date=17 April 2025}}</ref> and the dish is often considered symbolic of the [[United Kingdom]] by British people.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2015/sep/15/fish-fingers-60-britain-taste-of-childhood |title=Fish fingers at 60: how Britain fell for the not-very-fishy frozen sticks|last=Cloake|first=Felicity |date=2015-09-15|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2 December 2018}}</ref>

The food restrictions during and after [[World War II|WWII]] expanded the consumption of fish fingers, but companies struggled to maintain decent quality.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Josephson |first1=Paul R. |title=Fish sticks, sports bras, and aluminum cans : the politics of everyday technologies |date=26 November 2015 |isbn=978-1421417844 |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1421417847 |access-date=23 April 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Novak |first1=Matt |title=How Fish Sticks Became the Food of the Future That Nobody Asked For |url=https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/how-fish-sticks-became-the-food-of-the-future-that-nobo-1725388138 |website=Paleofuture |publisher=Gizmodo |date=12 August 2016}}</ref> The commercialization of fish fingers may be traced to 1953 when the American company Gorton-Pew Fisheries, now known as [[Gorton's of Gloucester|Gorton's]], was the first company to introduce a frozen ready-to-cook fish finger; the product, named ''Gorton's Fish Sticks'', won the [[Parents (magazine)|''Parents'' magazine]] Seal of Approval in 1956.<ref>''Pacific Fisherman'' 54 (1956) [https://books.google.com/books?id=AhP9AAAAMAAJ&q=Parents+magazine p. 55].</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Josephson |first1=Paul |title=The Ocean's Hot Dog: The Development of the Fish Stick |journal=Technology and Culture |year=2008 |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=41–61 |issn=0040-165X|jstor=40061377 |doi=10.1353/tech.2008.0023 |s2cid=110903114 }}</ref> The developer of those fish sticks was [[Aaron L. Brody]].

There was an abundance of [[herring]] in the United Kingdom after World War II. [[Clarence Birdseye]] test-marketed herring fish fingers, a product he had discovered in the United States,<ref name=Independent>Cyril Dixon, "The facts of fish fingers", ''[[The Independent]]'', 21 August 1994 ([https://archive.today/20130125113851/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4669873.html online])</ref><ref>David Hillman and David Gibbs, [https://books.google.com/books?id=qWJFAAAAYAAJ&q=frozen+fillets+of+fish ''Century Makers: One hundred clever things we take for granted which have changed our lives over the last one hundred years''], London: Weidenfeld, 1998 / New York: Welcome Rain, 1999, {{ISBN|9781566490009}}</ref> under the name "herring savouries". These were tested in [[Southampton]] and South Wales against "cod fingers", a comparatively bland product used as a control. Shoppers, however, confounded expectations by showing an overwhelming preference for the cod.<ref name=BBC>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4282290.stm "Teatime staple marks half century "], BBC News, 26 September 2005.</ref> The snack was nearly called Battered Cod Pieces, until a poll of Birds Eye workers opted for the snappier Fish Fingers.<ref name="facts">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-46071019|title=Fish fingers 'surprisingly sustainable'|date=2018-11-02|work=BBC News|access-date=2 November 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>Clayton, Hugh: "Constancy of fish fingers a symbol of calm in a trade of frequent change" in ''The Times'', 9 May 1980, p 17.</ref>

==Varieties==
[[File:Fried Fish finger.jpg|thumb|Fried fish fingers, Kolkata, India]]
Minced fish comes in industry standard 7.5&nbsp;kg frozen blocks for further slicing and battering.<ref>{{cite web |title=7.5kg fish block production |url=https://www.seafish.org/media/Publications/FS28_06_09_MinimisingVoids.pdf |date=May 2009}}</ref> These are more commonly used in [[store brand]] economy products. They may have either [[Batter (cooking)|batter]] or [[breadcrumbs]] around the outside as casing, although the coating is normally [[breadcrumbs]].<ref>{{cite web |title=STANDARD FOR QUICK FROZEN FISH STICKS (FISH FINGERS) - CODEX STAN 166–1989 |url=http://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/sh-proxy/en/?lnk=1&url=https%253A%252F%252Fworkspace.fao.org%252Fsites%252Fcodex%252FStandards%252FCODEX%2BSTAN%2B166-1989%252FCXS_166e.pdf |website=Codex Alimentarius |publisher=[[WHO]] |year=2017}}</ref>

In addition to white fish, fish fingers are sometimes made with [[salmon]].<ref name="IGLO">[http://www.iglo.be/nl-be/assortment/vis/10_fish_sticks_zalm/ "10 fish sticks zalm"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727183606/http://www.iglo.be/nl-be/assortment/vis/10_fish_sticks_zalm/|date=2014-07-27}}, [[IGLO]] 27 Juli 2014.</ref>

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Sweden frozen food brand [[Findus]] released a fish finger product with a coating of [[French fries|chips]] in place of breadcrumbs under the name "Crostinos."<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzO4mo0OPB0 |title=FINDUS 1987 - Crostinos |date=2013-11-26 |last=FINDUS Suisse |access-date=2024-10-22 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

==See also==
* {{portal inline|Food}}
* [[Crab stick]]
* [[Chicken fingers]]
* [[Chicken nugget]]
* [[Fishcake]]
* [[Fish finger sandwich]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{citation
|title=How in the World? A Fascinating Journey Through the World of Human Ingenuity
|work=[[Reader's Digest]]
|date=1990
|isbn=978-0-89577-353-1
}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline}}
{{cod topics|state=expanded}}
{{seafood}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fish Finger}}
[[Category:American cuisine]]
[[Category:British cuisine]]
[[Category:Canadian cuisine]]
[[Category:Fish dishes]]
[[Category:Fast food]]
[[Category:Deep fried foods]]
[[Category:British fish dishes]]
[[Category:Canadian fish dishes]]
[[Category:Frozen food]]
[[Category:American fish dishes]]