Homage to the Filet-O-Fish

Jane Hu writes well, and has excellent taste in fast food. It got me thinking... did I learn to love dim sum because it reminded me of the Filet-O-Fish?

The Filet-O-Fish became my menu item of choice. Its virtues are too many to count; doing so would be futile. As McDonald’s only seafood-based option, the Filet-O-Fish’s semblance of relative health appealed to my parents. Luckily it was also McDonald’s most delicious item. It played to my Chinese palate: While other McDonald’s buns were toasted, the Filet-O-Fish’s was steamed, much like the baozi. From its honeyed starch to its tangy tartar and savory fillet, the taste of the Filet-O-Fish carries an ineffable umami-ness. At once sweet and sour, it reminds me of orange-chicken sauce: a plausibly Chinese flavor mass-produced in America. Eating one always felt transportive — the equivalent of Proust’s madeleine for my Chinese diasporic upbringing.

Filet-O-Fish Fail

Have I mentioned that I love the Filet-O-Fish? They generally taste just as good wherever you get one, from Martell to Tokyo. However, flavor is only part of the full aesthetic experience, and occasionally the visual falls flat. Take this example from the Mickey D's in Los Banos, where we stopped for a bite on the way to Yosemite this week. The closeup below shows some serious issues with the bun, including center collapse, creasing, and suspicious pimples running along the left side. The slab of cheese– difficult to see here– was poorly placed. The flavor? Most excellent, as expected.

Further musings on the Filet-o-Fish

The bun is steamed, which probably accounts for its family resemblance to the steamed bun of dim sum. The history is of interest: The FOF has Catholic roots, and won a place on the McDonald's menu against a competing vegetarian sandwich that featured a slice of pineapple in place of the fish (the Hula Burger!).

I've always found it somewhat anomalous that such an exquisitely symmetrical sandwich should have only a half-slice of American cheese, rather than a full square to nest right below the fried filet. But as the purpose of the cheese is more adhesive than gustatory, a half-slice is probably sufficient. 

From Wikipedia:

The sandwich was invented in 1962 by Lou Groen, a McDonald's franchise owner in Cincinnati; his store was in a predominantly Roman Catholic neighborhood, which led to falling hamburger sales on Fridays resulting from the Roman Catholic practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays...

The sandwich was the first non-hamburger menu item brought in by new McDonald's company owner Ray Kroc. Kroc made a deal with Groen: they would sell two non-meat sandwiches on a Friday, Kroc's own Hula Burger (grilled pineapple with cheese on a cold bun) and the Filet-O-Fish, and whichever sold the most would be added to the permanent menu. The Filet-O-Fish "won hands down" and was added to menus throughout 1963 until reaching nationwide status in 1965. 

Quite possibly the most perfect Filet-O-Fish bun ever made

In Martell, CA. They should be proud. Zoom in to see the polished uniformity of the surface. Also, the placement of the square of fish in the exquisitely circular bun is worthy of Archimedes. As for the eating, the experience was little better or worse than a FOF anywhere else in the world, from Tokyo to Tempe. Which is to say, dang tasty.

The best fast food item in the world

Nobody I know believes me, but that's because they refuse to try the McDonald's filet-o-fish sandwich. It is a perfect little meal in a cardboard box: the fresh lightly breaded rectangle of sustainably sourced fish, the square of yellow American cheese firmly but gently gluing the fish to the bottom half of the bun, the dollop of properly bland tartar sauce, and the top of the bun, unnaturally soft, smooth, and rounded. Every bite features a pleasant crunch before it sticks to the roof of your mouth and then melts into a flavorful bolus. An aesthetic and culinary masterpiece.