Approx cost: €6.00
Approx calories (per serving): ~750
Approx preparation time and cooking time: 70 minutes
Aah, the great British classic! I was going to make “real” chips here, but after going for onion rings too I decided that chips might be a bit too much, so I went for a slightly healthier alternative – chipped/wedged oven cooked potatoes. The batter is amazing. Stays crispy long after cooking and is really light and airy. If you prefer not to use real beer/lager than non-alcoholic beer would work just as well, and failing that then sparkling water. Although the taste would be impacted.
Ingredients
Ingredients you'll need for this dish
The batter
– 250g (1.75 cups) Plain Flour
– 3 tsps Baking Powder
– ~30cl Beer or Lager
– 1 egg
– Salt
– Garlic Powder, if available
The rest
– 2 fillets of cod, haddock or other white fish.
– 4 or 5 potatoes (adjust depending on how many you’re serving and how hungry you are)
– 2 or 3 yellow onions (adjust depending on how many you’re serving and how hungry you are)
– 0.5 litres (1 pint) Peanut Oil for frying
– Olive Oil
– 3 tsps Cayenne Pepper
– 2 tsps Cumin
– Salt
– Pepper
Instructions
- Start by chopping up the potatoes into wedge-shapes, leaving the skin on. Wash them well and dry them off and then put them into a large
baking tray. Pour over some olive oil – you’ll probably need around 3-4 tbsps. Sprinkle on the cayenne pepper and cumin, varying the quantities a little if you prefer it more or less spicy, add some salt and pepper and mix the potatoes well with your hands to ensure each wedge is well coated with oil. Place into an oven at around 120 degrees Celsius. These will need around one hour, so adjust your preparation time accordingly.
Take the onions and peel off the outer skin. Cut away the tops and bottoms and then cut each onion into thick rings. Carefully pop out each layer. The very small centre pieces, you can either fry these too or save them for a later dish.
- Now we’ll make up the batter. Pour the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Crack the egg into the flour and then open up the beer. Pour the beer into the bowl along with 2 or 3 tsps of salt and the same again of garlic powder if available. Using a whisk, beat the batter together until you reach a smooth, frothy consistency. The batter should be thick enough to coat items dipped into it, but not so thick that it doesn’t run freely. If required, add in extra beer or flour.
- If you’ve planned the time appropriately, the wedges in the oven should be about 15 minutes away from being done. Turn the wedges and prod them periodically to make sure they’re looking nice and golden. Pour the oil into a large, deep pan. I personally like to use a wok and place on a hot stove to heat up. You may need to add more oil. Ideally it should be about 6 cms deep in the pan.
- While the oil is heating up, place all the rings of onion in the batter and coat well. Occasionally put a drop of batter into the oil – when it sizzles quite agressively you know the oil is hot enough. One of the top ways to fail with deep-frying is by not having the oil hot enough so make sure it’s a good temperature in the pan before starting to fry. Conversely, remember that hot oil on the stove is freaking dangerous so don’t leave it alone and watch it all the time. When it’s hot enough, put the battered onion rings in about 8 at a time, turning them until golden brown. Place on a plate when done and put in the oven with the finishing wedges. Place the fish into the batter and do the same – carefully place into the hot oil and fry, turning regularly, for around 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown. – I prefer to fry each piece on its own but you could probably do two pieces together – just remember that adding more things into the oil will make it cool down.
- Once everything is done you can plate it all up and serve it out. Serve the fish with a slice of lemon, maybe some salt and vinegar, and a tartar sauce, which goes really well with fish
Nom nom
OT: I want to make bad jokes now.
I recall seeing battered sausages the times i was in UK, but i wasnt brave enough to go for it, but perhaps Bas might be brave enough for it 😛 Batter recipe is similar to one I do but I d like to try it like this.
I has a sads because Bas doesn't like fish and that looks nomnoms.
Greats stuff!
You could buy a giant sausage and dip that in batter before frying too — another british delight, battered sausage 😀
Great recipe. There's just something about a beer batter. Something fantastic.
Thanks Greg – I think the photos don't do it justice. It was incredibly crispy – shame it's not the healthiest thing in the world 🙁
Dear Charles,
I am a big fan of fish and chips and the onion rings sound wonderful. Love a good beer batter. Thanks for your visits to my blog and for taking the time to leave a comment. It means a lot to me.
Have a great and blessed day,
Catherine
Thanks for stopping by Catherine – always a pleasure to take a look at your blog – you always succeed in making me hungry 🙂
Charles, just in case I make fish and chips this week (it depends on what I find at the fishmonger's), what beer would be the best here? I have only white beer (Hoegaarden) and Guinness at home (now you can guess our beer preferences 😉 ) but maybe some other type of beer would taste better?
Another question is the fish. The cod is shockingly expensive now and at the same time it reminds me the cheapest, most basic fish my mum fried in bread crumbs when she wanted something quick (when I was small the cod was very cheap). Haddock is not easy to get… Do you have any other fish tips? Should the flesh be rather firm or flaky? (I'm sorry I have never had fish and chips, so my questions are very basic)
Hi Sissi,
I used a can of cheap lager. Any kind of lager beer (blonde) works really well (Fosters, Stella Artois, Heineken etc) but I imagine a darker beer would be delicious too. Perhaps not as dark as Guinness, but something like an Irish Stout, like Murphys – I think stouts are called "rousses" in French. Hoegaarden, while delicious, might be a little bit too fragrant for the batter!
As for the fish – cod is really expensive at the moment isn't it. It's totally worth it if you can afford it – if not then another thick, white fish works very well. A lot of English "chippies" are serving Plaice these days as well as cod, and some also serve Hake. You could even use Alaskan Pollock (Colin d'Atlantique in French I think). Best thing to bear in mind is that the fish should be flaky (but not so flaky it falls apart while cooking!) and avoid frozen fish. You can usually buy frozen cod in a big bag in France, but even after defrosting, it's so soaked with water that the results after frying are really bad!
If you make onion rings, make sure to batter those before the fish (or else they'll taste fishy) – hope it works out well for you – I'd love to see some photos of the final dish if you make it! 🙂
Thank you, Charles, for the precious advice. I am just back from the fishmonger's. I haven't found anything not overly expensive and suitable for the fried fish (only very small whiting for example).
I will be at the French fishmonger later this week, maybe they will have something more interesting!
Luckily the beer will be easier to find! (by the way, I think Guinness is in the "brune" category). I have always thought Murphy's was as strong as Guinness, but have never actually tasted it.
I will let you know how my fish frying went! Thanks again for your help.
Murphys is similar in strength, but it's much more drinkable and refreshing. Guinness is very thick and very bitter… Murphys a lot more smooth I think. In any case, to get the best experience I would recommend using a blonde beer to start with. Good luck, and let me know how it goes when you try it 🙂
Charles, you will not believe me, but I love Guinness 🙂 A pint of draft Guinness is what I could drink now.
I must say in general I love the British lager (is it the way you call the smooth beer almost without bubbles?). I don't like the typical French or German "bière blonde" with violent big bubbles, it is too harsh for me.
I will try then my first fried fish with something lighter than Guinness!
I was always a bit of a lightweight. When I used to work in a bar, my favourite drink was a "Fosters Top", that is, pour a glass with about 480 ml of Fosters lager, and then top it off with lemonade. Really nice!
When you talk about the "beer without bubbles"… do you mean Real Ales? I can't say I'm a huge fan – warm glasses of brown, non-fizzy liquid with bits floating inside aren't my idea of a good time to be honest! Whatever beer you decide to choose, make sure it has some good bubbles in it though. The more bubbly it is the more crispy and fluffy the final batter will be! That's why I guess using Guinness might not be such a good idea. It's really creamy and smooth and although it would make a good flavour, the amount of CO2 is much lower. Perhaps a mix of half blonde and half Guinness?
Yes, you are right, I meant "ale"! When I went to London for the first time in my life and tasted an ale (I don't know if it was a "real" ale, but without artificial bubbles and with a divine smoothness…), in a pub, I wanted to spend my day going from pub to pub and drinking (well maybe stopping at the clothes shops 😉 ). I am definitely not a beer, but wine drinker, so it was a huge surprise!
Hoegaarden, even though not British, barely has any bubbles too and I like its slightly yeasty flavour!
So the bubbles are making the batter crispy? Then, I will buy a can of a very bubbly beer, no problem! I won't only drink it with the fish afterwards 😉
This looks absolutely delicious! I could eat that whole plate full right now! Yum!
Oops, sorry Ruth – missed your comment! It was a really successful batter, I'd definitely recommend it if ever you wanted to try it 🙂
Charles, I made your fish (without chips) last night! It was really delicious, but I hadn't put enough salt. Next time I will put much more salt in the batter and on the fish fillets too. I used plaice. It was very cheap, but maybe too thin and lacking taste… I will experiment with other types of fish, with thicker fillets. THanks once more for the recipe and all the tips! (Now I have half a pint Stella Artois beer in the fridge and hope my husband will be willing to finish it, otherwise I will look for other recipes using beer, I hate throwing away even the cheapest beer!)
That's great Sissi – I had a problem with the salt the first time too, you need a decent amount to get the taste right. Did you make onion rings too?
You should try what they have in some areas of England… Deep-fried Mars bar. Freeze a Mars bar, dip it in batter and then fry it in oil until golden brown (lol).
Charles, thank you for the idea… I have already heard about the Mars bar… It sounds scary!
I haven't made onion rings, I didn't have onions only shallots (I was offered lots of shallots a couple of months ago and they make a huge, positive change in most dishes!), they were not really good for frying in rings…
"Positive change" you say? To be honest I've never really tried cooking with them. I've always thought of them as over-priced dwarf onions. Are they that much different? If so I'll definitely give them a try!
Fabulous! I'm definitely making this the next time we pick England – if not sooner. Look at those onion rings!!!
Cheers Kristy – the photo is pretty bad. Makes me want to revisit the recipe with my growing photography skills now 😀 On that subject, I'm going to the art and craft store this weekend to buy some supplies… Vellum, reflective materials, etc 😀
Have fun at the art/craft store! I need to get on my reading again. Been crazed lately. I was experimenting with the paper on the flash thing a bit though. I'm taking a photography class in a few weeks. Hoping I'll pick up some more pointers there too. Have fun! I can't wait to hear about what you get and see the results. 🙂
Photography class? Nice… Nothing like some real hands-on coaching to get some skills! I'll let you know what sort of stuff I get from the art store 🙂
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Thanks Dave, I'll take a look!
Delicious ! very good !
Thanks Björn – glad you liked it! I'm going to try and do a "new improved" version of this soon since you can never have too many fish and chips 😉