ASDA Smartprice Fish Fingers (Asda Smartprice Fish Fingers)

Member Name: sun-is-shining

Product:	Asda Smartprice Fish Fingers
Date:	08/11/09 (30 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap, good taste

Disadvantages: does not inform us which fish species were used to produced this product

As a child I regularly refused to eat fish for dinner; the only way my parents ever got me to eat some was by buying Fish Fingers - minced fish in delicious, crispy golden batter.

And still today Fish Fingers with salad is one of my favourite dishes and a cheap way to eat fish. As a student I live on a quite tight budget and definitely cannot afford the Birds Eye version anymore - byebye childhood dreams, welcome reality an Smartprice products!

Thank god that the ASDA Smartprice Fish Fingers are cheap, tasty and healthy - and all of this for only 47p for a 250 gram pack (which gives you 10 fish sticks). They are quite healthy with 44 calories for one Finger but unfortunately are quite high in fat (2 gram for one) and contain an incredibly high amount of salt. ASDA informs us on the pack that no preservatives and flavourings were added which is definitely a big plus point. Furthermore the Allergies Information informs us that the product contains gluten, wheat, wheat flour & fish - that fish thing should be quite obvious :-)

Preparation is very easy and quick; just put the still frozen Fingers in the oven and back for roughly 15min (that depends of course on your oven, please see packing for more info on heating/frying times). The batter turns a lovely golden brown and gets really crispy. Some Fish Fingers don't go crispy in the oven which means that you have to fry them, therefore adding more oil. Not so here, no additional oil is needed to get them really crispy.

They taste absolutely delicious, a very natural taste of fish with a not too thick batter that doesn't go soggy when you add lemon juice. There is a slightly greasy feeling and aftertaste but nothing that you wouldn't also get with other brands. We actually did the "blind tasting" test in my flatshare with my friends Birds Eye and my Smartprice Fish Fingers. None of us could taste any difference and he's now convinced to give the cheaper Smartprice version a try.
The only visible difference is that the ASDA Fingers are slightly smaller and not so thick than other brands.

Right, that sounds like a great product that I could recommend to you - well, unfortunately it is not, or at least not without some major minus points. Birds Eye used cod for its Fish Fingers, ASDA on the other hand used "White Fish" without naming the exact fish species used to produce the Fingers. Although the Smartprice Fish Fingers, which are Marine Stewardship Council approved, were awarded prestigious Green Product of the Year 2007 by National Consumer Council, I would still prefer to know what exactly I'm eating. That's a bit like selling minced meat without writing on the pack if it is beef or pork.

A big plus for using sustainable fish species, a big minus for not telling us which exactly they are and where they are coming from.

Summary: see review