Beer Battered Fish with Tartar Sauce

By Addie

"One of the things that sticks out most in my mind about my last trip to Ireland is how incredibly good the fish and chips are. They were served in a newspaper cone that was stuffed with waffle fries and fish. This recipe brings back those fond memories. the secret for a crackling crisp coating is to fry fish in small batches. Too many pieces will cool the oil, and the fish will be soggy and greasy. Serve with your favorite chips. The Cod Clan: Atlantic pollack, haddock, and hake are among the members of the extensive cod family. Although these fish vary slightly in terms of texture and flavor, one can generally be substituted for another. Small cod are often called scrod and can certainly be used here.

Ingredients

• TARTAR SAUCE:
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 scallions, including green top chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped dilled gherkins
• 1 tablespoon chopped capers
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• Salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• .....................................................
• FISH:
• Cooking oil, for frying ( approximately 1 quart)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 eggs, beaten to mix
• 1 cup beer
• 2 lbs cod fish fillets or 2 lbs haddock or 2 lbs hake, cut into approximately 1 1/2-by-3-inch pieces

Preparation

Step 1

Combine all the tartar sauce ingredients in a bowl with a pinch each of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat the oven to 200°. Cover a cookie sheet with paper towels and top with a wire rack.

Heat about 3" of oil to approximately 365° in a medium sized pot.

Meanwhile, mix flour with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Whisk in egg. Slowly add the beer while whisking.

Dip fish pieces in the batter and place on plate or the wire rack you will be using to drain the fried fish. I usually double dip in the batter if I have some left over once the batter dries on the awaiting fish.

Place fish pieces, two at a time in the oil. Cook until the fish is done and the crust is lightly golden, about 4 minutes for 3/4-inch thick fillets.

Remove fish with tongs and put on rack to drain. Sprinkle salt over the hot fish and put the baking sheet in the oven.

Repeat in batches with the remaining fish. Serve with the tartar sauce.
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REVIEWS:

AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! A KEEPER for LIFE!!!!!!!!! Thank you SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!! :) It truely was PERFECT!!!!!!!!!

I would give this ten stars if I could. I tried this because it was 100% five stars. I don't like batter fried fish even in restaurants; the batter always falls off. This was the best fish and chips I've had so far... anywhere. Next time I think I am also going to batter vegetables like a tempura, onions rings ... I'm gonna have fun with this. So easy, so good. Thanks! If your batter isn't crisping, try turning up the heat a bit.

Outstanding! Light crispy batter. The whole family gave it a thumbs up!

VERY good! I made it tonight for supper, and my hubby gave it several kudos, which is huge, as he thinks saying something is 'good' is the same as anyone else saying "Wow fabulous". So yah! Highly recommend this one. We used dark beer, and the flavor was great!

So Simple, I used the batter only, my DD loves puffed fish as she calls it. I had some freesh Hogfish and fried up 2 fillets about 1kilo of fish and She downed 4 tacos in record time. I xserved them with a little mayo mixed with chipotle and lemon.

I used cod for this recipe and it came out wonderfully! Very easy recipe and quite tasty! Make sure your oil is hot enough, though, otherwise you'll get soggy fillets. This recipe is right on the money, and I will be using this from now on. Thank you for posting it!

Very good made with haddock too. Made it your way as part of a big family fish fry and everyone gave it a thumbs up. Thanks for sharing another good one.

The batter tasted great. However, it didn't crisp up as much as I would have liked. I may not have had my oil hot enough? I didn't try the tartar sauce, but the batter was great! Thanks!

Made this twice now, using Cod and Halibut.. I added sliced zucchini too the other day.. Looks and tastes like we bought it. Heats up the next day VERY WELL in the OVEN with a few water splashes. Thanks!

Since I only made the tartar sauce, I debated on whether to leave a star rating, but it was SO good, I threw caution to the wind and said, YES! This sauce... I don't even know what to say except A) it went flying into my ENCORE cookbook -- reserved for the best of the best -- and B) it was the best tartar sauce I've ever tasted and C) I'll never have another including in a restaurant. I'll bring THIS recipe! Thank you, ncmysteryshopper... FIVE BIG FAT STARS from us!

WOW 5 stars !!! This fish is excellent, crispy and yummy, yummy, yummy. The batter is nce but you eat fish with batter and not batter with fish-in-there-somewhere. I made 14 small pieces for 3 of us and we ate the lot ! This is my recipe of choice for battered fish from now on. Please see my rating system, a wonderful 5 stars :) Thanks !

The fish turned out great, made homemade chips with malt vinegar, reminded of my days in New England. Batter was nice and light.

This fish is excellent. The batter is light and crispy and the tartar sauce completes the wonderful experience. This is a recipe to use again and again.

Excellent Fish! The batter wasn't really thick so I was a bit worried that there wouldn't be much of it left on the fish, but the end result was beautifully cooked fish with a light crisp batter. You could really taste the fish without it being overpowered by a soggy heavy batter. We really enjoyed this. I didn't make the tartar sauce as I have my own recipe that I make so I can't comment on that. I highly recommend this batter for frying fish! Thanks for a great recipe!

We really enjoyed this. I used haddock, and had my DH make it for me! It was crisp and light and turned out great for us. Just like a fish and chip shop! This will be our batter recipe from here on in. The trick to making it crispy is to only do a few pieces at a time, as recipes states or else the oil will cool! Thanks for sharing!

While this was very tasty, the batter did not crisp up for me, maybe I did something wrong?

Wonderful! DD went to London last New Year's Eve as a parade participant and said that these were 'WAY better" than the ones she had there. Mama's cooking always tastes better! lol Thanks for a great recipe!

I used pollock filets instead of cod, but otherwise followed the recipe. The batter was very light and crispy, and DH loved it, saying that it was the best fish I've ever made him! He loved the sauce, too. Thanks for posting this one and making me look good.

5-stars for the batter and the tartar sauce. We enjoyed this for a wonderfully relaxed Sunday night dinner. The batter was crisp and light...the tartar was delicious.