Vegetarian Fish Bagel

You might be wondering how fish can be classified as vegetarian, but I'm not talking about real fish here. Rather, I'll be showing you how to prepare a carrot based fish alternative. And later on, we'll prepare a Bagel and use the carrot-fish as an alternative

First of all, get out a blender and blend some of the mixed seeds and oats into a coarse powder.

Next up, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, milk, water and olive oil in a large bowl. You can do this by hand or by using a dough blender.

After leaving the dough to rest for about half an hour, split it into eight pieces.

Leave to rest for another fifteen minutes, before shaping the bagels. I found that the easiest way to shape the bagels is to place your thumb on the top center of the bagel, your index finger on the bottom center of the bagel, and slowly rotating the bagel, whilst slowly moving your thumb and index finger closer together.

This should form a small hole, which you can expand by spinning the bagel around your fingers, similarly as how you image someone throwing pizza.

After shaping all eight bagels, put them on an oven tray and leave them to rest for another fifteen minutes.

Afterwards fill a pot with water and get it up to temperature (around boiling point). Carefully put the bagels in to the water bath (not all at once though) and leave them in there for about 30 seconds per side. Remove the bagels from the pot and put them back on to the tray.

Crack the egg into a cup, and mix the egg yolk and white using a fork. If you are having troubles getting them to mix properly, add some salt. Now take a (silicone) brush and brush the egg on the bagel.

The last thing left to do before putting the bagels into the oven, is putting the remaining mixed seeds and oats on the bagels. The egg will help the bagels brown, and keeping the oats in place.

Now put the bagels into the oven (180 °C fan for about 20 min). To check if the bagels are done, you can remove one from the tray (keep in mind, that they are hot), and cut it open vertically

If it seems wet inside, put it back in the oven, but keep checking every minute.

When they are done, remove the bagels from the oven, leave them to cool down and separate them from the tray.

To begin with, mix the olive oil, vinegar, pepper, salt and dill tips in a measuring cup.

Now grab a blender and blend the roasted seaweed sheets into a fine powder, and pour into the measuring cup. Stir to mix the two (you should have a dark, thick mixture).

Afterward, we can go ahead and prepare the carrots: Peel the carrots and cut them in half (width-wise). Now cut thin, but long slices. This might be hard to do when using a knife, so I'd recommend using a peeler.

Now that you've successfully sliced the carrots, it is time to cook them: All you have to do is heat about one liter of water and once boiling, add a pinch of salt and the sliced carrot.

Over time, slices should rise to the surface, that means that you can remove them.

Now cover them with the mixture from above using a brush and put them in a box.

Once done, pour the leftover mixture in the box, and give it a shake (please don't forget to put on the lid). Wait for the carrots to cool down and place the box in a fridge, for about 24 to 48 hours.

Now they are ready to serve, either on their own, or on a bagel.

First of all, cut open the bagel horizontally. If you want to, now is the time to toast the inside of the bagel. Afterward, spread the cream cheese on the top and bottom piece.

Put a piece of cheese on the bottom bagel slice and use a fork to stack some of our tasty carrot-fish on it.

It might be a good idea to add more salt and pepper now, if preferred, otherwise, add lettuce and close the bagel.

That looks amazing, take a bite.

Enjoy your meal.