Fish & Chips

By bethz

Ingredients

• 2 oz/55g all purpose - plain flour
• 2 oz/55g corn starch / cornflour
• Sea salt and pepper
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup/75ml dark beer
• 1/3 cup/75ml sparkling water
• 1 lb/450g white fish fillet preferably sustainable cod, pollock or haddock
• 1/4 gallon/1 litre vegetable oil or other frying oil

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

•In a large roomy bowl mix together the all but 2 tbsp of the flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Season lightly with a tiny pinch of salt and pepper.
•Using a fork, and whisking continuously, add the beer and the water to the flour mixture and continue mixing until you have a thick, smooth batter. Place the batter in the fridge and rest for between 30 minutes and an hour.
•Meanwhile, lay the halved fish fillets on a sheet of kitchen paper and pat dry. Season very lightly with a little salt.
•In a deep, thick bottomed saucepan, chip pan or electric fryer (if you have one), heat the oil until sizzling hot (test by dropping a ¼ tsp of the batter into the oil, it should sizzle and crisp up immediately).
•Place the 2 tbsp of flour reserved from the batter mix into a shallow bowl. Toss each fish fillet in the flour, shake off any excess, dip into the batter then carefully lower each fillet into the hot oil. Fry for approx 8 minutes or until the batter is crisp and golden, turning the fillets from time to time with a large slotted spoon.
•Using the same slotted spoon, once cooked remove the fillets from the hot oil, drain on kitchen paper and serve hot with chips (fries).