Fish and Chips

Mon, 1 March 2021

For the Batter

Ingredients

(this is to be made just before cooking)

90g plain flour

75g cornflour

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

225ml of an ice cold sparkling drink, beer is best, sparkling water is ace too and Guinness works well and gives a rich dark colour

Method

1) Simply combine all the dry ingredients and have the sparkling liquid chilled in the fridge ready to go

2) Just just before cooking add your sparkling drink to the dry batter mix

3) Use a fork or chopsticks to combine as you just want to mix it together, don’t be scared of a of a few lumps in the mix the few lumps are good because they burst in the Fryer and give you and a real nice texture to you’re batter

4) The texture should look like porridge, you can adjust it slightly if you think it’s to thin, a spoon of flour, too thick a tiny splash of the liquid

For the Fish

Ingredients

500 - 600g fish fillets (Cod is the more traditional but it works super also with monkfish hake haddock and Pollock) (cut into 4 long pieces)

Method

1) Season fish with salt and dipped into plain flour

2) Ensure the oil in your deep fat fryer is at 180° and your fryer should be hot before making the batter as the key to a light, crispy batter is mixing it just before cooking the fish)

3) Now simply dip your floured fish into the batter and gently ease it into the fryer. The slower you put it into the oil the better your batter will be

4) If your fish is 1” thick, it’ll take 8-9 minutes and be a good golden colour, a bit darker if you used Guinness

5) Lemon to garnish

Chips

Traditionally this is served with chips. Simply peel and chop potatoes, parboil the chips in boiling salted water for 4 to 5 minutes then drain and steam dry.

When the chips are nice and dry, fry in the oil that the fish were cooked in at 180°C/350°F until golden and crisp.

Note: This also works well with steamed baby potatoes and it’s brilliant with a simple salad too

Tartar Sauce (Optional)

3 spoons of mayonnaise

Juice of half a lemon

Pinch each of capers, chopped gherkins, parsley & coriander

Just mix them all up and adjust according to your own taste