Crispy Beer Battered Fried Fish
Description
As with the fries, there were a few attempts before we found a perfect batter recipe on Recipe Tin Eats. Rice flour and cold batter are key to crispy results and the carbonation and yeast in the beer create that light puffy texture. We used lingcod…halibut would be our next choice, but any firm white fish would work, and when using the deep fryer for the whole meal, the fish always goes in last. Brilliant with our favorite tartar sauce and just about any coleslaw, fish and chips is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon! – enjoy!
Ingredients
700 g white fish, cut into fillets (we prefer slightly smaller pieces – more crispy batter!)
sea salt for the fillets before they’re battered
1/4 c. (40 g) rice flour – for dusting the fish
Beer Batter
3/4 c. (94 g) flour AND 1/4 c. (40 g) rice flour
1 t. baking powder AND 1/2 t. sea salt
1 c. VERY COLD light beer to start, you will likely need more to get the right consistency.
Instructions
Cut the fish into pieces that have a similar shape and thickness for consistent cooking and then pat dry.
Heat the oil to 375 in your deep fryer or a heavy pot. While you’re waiting, sprinkle the fish with salt, coat in rice flour and shake off the excess. Make sure you time it so that the pieces don’t sit out like this too long, you may want to dust them in batches if you are cooking a lot of fish.
Just before cooking, whisk together the four, rice flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the very cold beer to the dry ingredients and mix together until just incorporated, don’t over-mix. This should result in a fairly thin batter but if it’s too thick, slowly add more beer to the mix.
Dredge fish in the batter and slowly add to the hot oil in small batches. Fry for approximately 5 minutes turning occasionally until the pieces are a deep golden brown colour. Drain on a wire rack over a layer of paper towels.
For additional batches, let the oil heat to 375 and repeat. Timing this kind of meal so that everything is ready at the same time isn’t easy…but making it work is certainly worth the effort!
