Tips for Perfecting Summer’s Beloved Seafood Sandwich

You can really do no wrong when it comes to a seafood sandwich. There are so many kinds of fish to cook with and so much you can do to dress up a sandwich as far as flavors go. However, fish sandwiches are tricky; you want to balance the flavor of the fish with whatever other flavors you choose to incorporate, and you want every bite to be absolutely perfect. Let’s break down all the components—from the bread to the fish and everything in between—to really perfect the seafood sandwich. By the time you get through this article, you’ll be a sandwich expert (and that’s the best kind of expert to be)!

The Bread

You can’t have a sandwich without bread, and yet a lot of people forget that it’s just as important to pick the perfect bread for your sandwich as it is to pick the perfect fish. Fish sandwiches tend to be a little heavier than the typical ham and cheese, so you need to pick a bread that can support the fish, as well as anything else you choose to put on your sandwich. You’ll notice that the most popular fish sandwiches—like lobster rolls and po’ boys—are served on a thick split bun or baguette. This is, first and foremost, so the sandwich doesn’t fall apart, but an added bonus is that thicker bread absorbs the sauces and flavors of your sandwich so that literally every bite is flavorful. But let’s say a roll or baguette isn’t your best choice of bread. Maybe you’re making a sandwich with crabmeat or white fish, where a roll would be entirely too overpowering. Sliced bread like white or brioche is totally acceptable, but I’d recommend toasting it so the bread doesn’t completely fall apart under the weight of the sandwich.

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Take a look at this shrimp po’ boys recipe. You’ll notice that it calls for hoagie buns, because this is a hefty sandwich with breaded shrimp, slaw, and sauce. This is the best possible bread for this sandwich. First of all, everything fits on the bread, so it’ll stay intact, but a soft hoagie will also soak up the flavor from the slaw.

On the other hand, take this spicy crab club sandwich recipe. Since the crab meat is a little lighter and the sandwich is much smaller than a po’ boy, the recipe calls for white toast. This way, the sandwich won’t fall apart, but the crab meat is still the star of the meal.

The Seafood

This is definitely the most important part of a seafood sandwich. There are a lot of different fish that work perfectly for a sandwich, but the trick is to find a fish that has a mild flavor that blends well with any other flavors you may want on your sandwich. My personal favorites for a sandwich are lobster and crab, shrimp, and any white fish (like cod, tilapia, or catfish). These are easy flavors that complement any seasonings and sauces your heart may desire; you can go with a spicy Southwestern sandwich or use sweet Asian flavors to bring out the natural flavor in shrimp or tilapia. Also, white fish and shrimp especially are amazing no matter how you cook them, so you could even experiment with the texture of your sandwich by frying, baking, or grilling your fish.

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Here’s what I mean when I talk about the versatility of flavors and textures in these fish. Take this classic lobster roll recipe. The sandwich is everything you’d expect from a New England lobster roll: a pound of lobster meat shoved into a split bun and drenched in butter sauce and lemon juice. However, lobster goes with plenty of flavors besides butter and lemon. This recipe includes Sriracha, black pepper, and parsley to put a spicier twist on the classic lobster roll.

You can play with textures, too. This cod sandwich recipe calls for a beer-battered and fried cod (but halibut or haddock works too). Not only will the batter create an extra layer of flavor in the sandwich, but frying the cod makes for a thicker, crispier sandwich. Or go for a much lighter sandwich by baking your fish instead of coating and frying it, like in this Cajun-style tilapia sandwich recipe. The fish is coated in spices and mayo, so you’re definitely not risking flavor by going for a lighter sandwich!

The Toppings

Sure, lobster or crab is great with some lemon juice on top, and bacon, lettuce, and tomato makes the perfect club sandwich out of any fish, but normal is boring. One topping that can’t go wrong on a fish sandwich is slaw. Since it lends itself well to a wide range of sauces and flavors, a slaw is the perfect complement to a heavier fish. You can also flavor the slaw around how you’re preparing the rest of the sandwich. For example, if you’ve beer-battered and fried a cod filet, you may want to use a slaw with some Dijon mustard to go with the beer flavor. Or if you’re going the Cajun shrimp route, you may consider a spicier jalapeño slaw to give the sandwich an extra kick.

Here’s a very basic fish sandwich recipe—no crazy flavors, no wild prep techniques. Use this just for a basic idea of how to start a slaw. Then you can get creative! Add sauces, spices, different veggies, or anything you may need to perfect your version of the seafood sandwich. Take, for example, this sandwich with pepper slaw or this one with pineapple slaw.

The Sauce

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Finally, we get to the last thing you throw on before closing your sandwich up: the sauce. I am a firm believer that a sauce can absolutely make or break your sandwich. If you don’t have enough sauce, your sandwich is dry. If there’s too much, you miss the flavor of the fish. If you use the wrong flavors, the whole sandwich is a bust. Some safe bets are tartar sauce, mayo, Sriracha, and Dijon mustard. But you can get creative with any of those! Add crab meat to mayo to heighten the flavor of a shrimp sandwich, or make a pesto to add an earthy flavor to your fish filet. A lemon basil mayo will add both a creaminess and a zest to the sandwich. On the other hand, the pickle and Worcestershire sauce in this fish sandwich sauce create a tang that perfectly complements more mild white fish flavors.

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