Easy Fish and Chips Beer Batter Recipe

I love fish and chips. There, I've said it.  And in defense of this fried food, let me say that when properly cooked, fish and chips do not have to be soggy and greasy.

Here's the trick: the hot oil simply must be hot enough to fry the fish quickly and vigorously, but not so hot that it spatters and creates a fire hazard!

Use a frying oil that has a low "smoke point", meaning it comes up to frying temperature quickly, such as grape seed, vegetable or canola oil (not olive oil).

To test if the oil is hot enough, drop a tiny bit of batter into the oil. If it sinks and stays there, it is not yet hot enough. If it immediately fries to a crisp or explodes, too hot! What you want is for the batter to sink, then immediately rise to the surface and stay there while it turns golden and bubbles away merrily.

Here's a tasty and dead-easy batter that results in light crispy fish:

INGREDIENTS:

For the batter:

one cup of all purpose flour

one cup of room temperature beer

optional: a teaspoon of cayenne pepper

firm white fish filets (cod is best, can use tilapia or others)

corn starch

cider vinegar, lemon slices or tartar sauce to serve

potatoes

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, beer and optional cayenne pepper and whisk until blended. Set aside for up to an hour.

Slice the potatoes into wedges, coat lightly in olive oil, salt with kosher salt and spread out on a pan. Bake or broil in hot oven until lightly browned, about 20 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile fry the fish:

Pat the fish filets dry, then dredge lightly in corn starch. Then dredge and cover the fish with the batter and (very carefully so as not to splash the hot oil!) place into the hot oil.  Turn carefully when golden on one side. When completely golden brown, remove the fish to a paper towel and allow to  drain and cool a bit. Serve while still hot, with the cooked potato wedges.

Serve the fish with fresh lemon, tartar sauce or cider vinegar.

Comments

[Leonie Brittain]

Please tell me why there is no egg in this beer batter. I find this surprising.