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Monday, April 21, 2008

Beer Batter Fish with Chips

I love fish and chips, but they have to be made really well and with perfectly plump white fish, preferably cod. Having been to London and Ireland, I know a good fish fryer when I see one and chips can't be anything other than skin-on sliced potato wedges, fried in the same oil as the fish. Again, these are all my preferences, but trying it any other way just doesn't seem authentic.

Beer batter is quite possibly the easiest concept ever, but frying the fish perfectly is the hardest part of the task. You have to slowly drop the batter covered fish into your oil and wait for a crust to start to form, before releasing the rest of the fish into the oil. With long enough tongs, it shouldn't take you too long to master the fry.


Beer Batter:
12 oz beer (I used a dark ale)
1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 tsp salt

Fish:
1 lb fresh cod, sliced into 1 inch wide strips
Chips:
3-4 Idaho potatoes, sliced into wedges, about 8 per potato

In a Dutch oven, (if you own a fryer, go ahead and use it) heat oil to 375 degrees F.


Fry potatoes until golden brown, roughly 10 minutes removing with a slotted spoon or spider.
Place in a low oven to keep warm while cooking the fish.

Pat fish dry and season on both sides with salt and pepper and coat the fish in the beer batter.
Fry fish, turning over frequently, until deep golden and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Fry remaining fish in batches, returning oil to 375 degrees F between batches.

7 comments:

Daziano said...

OMG! I love fish and chips!!!! It's one of my favorite dishes in the whole world! Thank you for the recipe!

K8teebug said...

How did you know I've been wanting fish and chips? yummy.

test it comm said...

That looks good! I have been wanting to try making fish and chips at home for a while now.

Cynthia said...

I can hear how crisp and crunchy the fish coating is.

Kit Pollard said...

This is also a GREAT way to use leftover rockfish. A couple of years ago, my husband went fishing and brought home WAY more than we could possibly just grill. We had people over and made a ton of fish and chips - huge hit.

(Although, it does sometimes seem like sacrilege to use rockfish for frying...but when you have 20 pounds of it, you've got to mix it up.)

Peter M said...

Fish & chips are such a retro and comforting meal for me. Toronto had Fish & chip stores everywhere. Now, fish is so expensive and one might as well make it at home, like your fine plate here.

John said...

Fish and chips i - are - is da bomb! It's a lovely thing to eat. I need to have some!