Crispy Fried Shark Sandwich (Bake and Shark)

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Crispy Fried Shark Sandwich (Bake and Shark)

For many anglers, myself included, sharks are a menace that means you’re wasting bait at best or losing fish at worst. So when I caught a few Atlantic Sharpnose sharks while king mackerel fishing off the pier in Panama City Beach last year, I decided I might as well take one of these pests home.

The Atlantic Sharpnose has no size regulation in Florida and has a daily limit of 1 in the shark aggregate, so it is the perfect choice to try and make a recipe I have wanted to make since I first saw it over a decade ago on Bizarre Foods. Trinidad and Tobago’s most popular fast-food sandwich is the famous “Bake and Shark”. This is a super flavorful fried shark sandwich that was originally popularized in Maracas Bay by Richard’s Bake & Shark.

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Fried Shark Ingredients – Bake and Shark

• 1 lb of Cleaned Shark
• 1 Bunch Chadon Beni – Culantro
• 1/2 Bunch Cilantro
• 1/4 Bunch Thyme
• 6 Cloves Garlic
• 2 Scotch Bonnet Peppers
• 2 Limes
• Salt
• Pepper
• 3/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 Cup Cornstarch
• Creole Seasoning

Instructions for Fried Shark – Bake and Shark

The first thing you want to prep is the marinade for the fried shark. Get your herbs, the Chadon Beni, Cilantro, and Thyme, wash them, and add them to the food processor. Side note: If you can not find Chadon Beni, also known as culantro, you can substitute it with cilantro in a pinch. I found mine at a Mexican supermarket and have seen it for sale at Publix on occasion.

Next, add the rest of the marinade ingredients, the peppers, garlic cloves, salt, and fresh cracked pepper, to the food processor. Juice two whole limes into the food processor and blend until pretty smooth. If you cannot find scotch bonnet peppers, you can also use habaneros. Also, adjust to your heat tolerance; these peppers can be pretty hot for some.

Once the marinade is well-blended, save a quarter cup to make a sauce later, and put the rest into a bowl with the shark pieces. Marinate your shark for at least 10 minutes, cover, and put it away in the fridge while you work on everything else.

With the shark marinating, make the breading for the fried shark. Mix the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and creole seasoning together in a bowl to bread the shark pieces later.

Right before you are about to fry everything, add the shark to the dredge and mix it all together. Let it sit in the flour dredge for a few minutes so it really adheres to the shark and marinade and makes a nice crust.

Take your pieces of shark and add them to a pot of 375°F vegetable oil. Make sure to up the heat as you add the shark to keep the oil nice and hot, and fry until they start floating. Pull them out onto a rack to drain any excess oil. I would recommend frying the shark after you finish frying the bakes, though.

Fried Bake Ingredients – Bake and Shark

• 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 Tbsp Butter
• 3 Tbsp Sugar
• 1/4 Tsp Baking Powder
• 3/4 Tsp Instant Yeast
• 3/4 Cup Warm Water
• Vegetable Oil

Instructions for Fried Bake – Bake and Shark

For making the Fried Bake, though, you can either use a mixer or, as I did here, a food processor with the dough blade installed. First, add all your dry ingredients to the mixer or food processor.

Then, take your warm water—you want it about body temperature or 100F—and add the butter to it to melt. Once the butter is melted, pour the mixture into the mixer/food processor and start combining. It will start off a bit shaggy, but let the machine keep running until it starts coming together into a cohesive dough.

Once the dough is ready, pull it from the machine and make a nice round ball. Place it into a bowl and then coat it with vegetable oil. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes.

Once the dough has rested, cut it into four pieces. Round these pieces and flatten them on a flour-dusted surface until they are at least 4 inches across.

Next, we are going to fry the bakes. Heat your pot of vegetable oil to around 375°F and add the bread two at a time.

You want to fry them until they’re golden on one side, then flip to fry the other. Once they’re golden on both and nicely puffed up, pull them out onto a rack to drain any excess oil.

Assembling the Bake and Shark

For toppings in the Bake and Shark, slaw-cut cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and thin pineapple slices are all good topping choices. For sauces, you can take about half of that marinade you saved from earlier and add it to a blender with some garlic, mayo, and a little sugar to make a nice creamy garlic sauce. Tamarind sauce is also traditional, but I couldn’t find tamarind in northwest Georgia.

Whatever toppings you put in your Bake and Shark, I hope you enjoy my attempt at Trinidad and Tobago’s most popular fast food. So go save some fish and eat some sharks; I hope you enjoy eating this as much as I did.

Recipe Details

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