Beer-Battered Fish and Chips

Hello everybody! (insert British Accent here). 

Today I am going to share one of my favourite fish dish. Guess what? It is..... "Fish and Chips". The first time I had fish and chips was many years ago, in a restaurant called Kitchenette in Istanbul. The fish was yummy and crispy. And you know that I have a thing for crispy stuff. 


However the best fish and chips I had was when I was in London last summer in a famous restaurant called Garfunkel's. Funny story, I saw the ad of the restaurant on the wall of a subway station. Then I got lost, which is pretty normal if you are not a local, and then I looked up. I was standing in front of this amazing restaurant: Garfunkel's.

So when I got home, I said, "Why not try to cook it by myself". It's been a while since I came home from London, about 5-6 months, just a little bit of time I know. What can I say? I am a little bit lazy. I thought that this was a very challenging recipe. But, it wasn't hard, however it needs time. About 1-1.5 hour. But it is definitely worth it. So, here is the recipe for  crispy beer-battered Fish and Chips. Hope you'll like it. 

Fish and Chips at Garfunkel's

Fyi: I will be giving the directions separately but you can work on multiple things at the same time. For example I started with the french fries and while those were cooking, I cooked the peas. Then I cooked the fish in the same frying pan used for the french fries and finally I prepared the tartare sauce. 

Ingredients:

For the fried fish:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
A pinch of salt
Ground black pepper
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 cups beer, very cold
600 g. of white fish, I used whiting fish (mezgit), cut into 70-80 g. pieces, 1 finger thick max. 
Oil for frying

For french fries:
4 potatoes
Oil for frying

For the peas:
4 hands full of peas
1 tablespoon of butter

For the tartare sauce:
1/4 cup mayo
2 tablespoons capers, drained and chopped
8 baby gherkins (cornishons, pickles) chopped, drained.
2 tablespoon freshly chopped chives
2-3 drops of lemon juice

Directions:

For French Fries:

1) Peel the potatoes. In a large bowl pour some cold water and add some ice cubes. Place the peeled potatoes in this bowl. This way your potatoes will not turn brown while you cut the other potatoes. 

2) Take one potato and slice a piece. Then turn the potato so that the potato stands on it's flat surface. This will make it easier to slice the potato. 

3) Slice the potato into 1 finger thick pieces. Then cut each slice into long strips. When you are done slicing and cutting the potatoes into fries, out them back into the cold water. Wait about 5 minutes and then transfer them into a towel and dry them out. Dry potatoes make crispier french fries. 

4) When the oil is hot fry the potatoes. Let the fry until they are golden brown about 8-9 minutes. 

5) Transfer them onto a plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with some salt. 



For the peas: 

1) Add the peas into a skillet or a pan and pour some water. Close the lid of the peas.

2) When the peas are cooked, add in the butter and some salt and pepper.  

For the beer-battered fried fish:
1) Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt, paprika, pepper and the garlic powder in a large mixing bowl. Then transfer the 3/4 of this mixture into a plate. Then add baking powder into the flour mixture which is in the bowl. Stir again to combine.

2) In a frying pan or a dutch oven, heat up the oil for frying. 

3) Cut the fish into pieces. Using a paper towel, dry them out. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Then dredge them each into the flour which is on the plate. 

4) Add 1 1/4 cups of beer to the flour mixture in the bowl. Whisk it. It should be a thick batter. If it is too thick add more batter and flour if it is too thin. 

5) Using tongs, dip each piece of fish into the batter. Then carefully place the fish, 2 pieces maximum at a time, in the frying pan.  Fry them for about 6-7 minutes until golden brown. Then transfer your fish on to a plate lined with paper towels. Serve with fries, peas and tartare sauce. 

For the tartare sauce:

(sorry no photos for the sauce)

1) In a bowl add the mayonnaise. Add in the lemon juice and stir. 
2) Chop the capers and the gherkins. Then chop the chives thinly. Add these onto the mayo mixture.
3) Add in some salt and give it a nice stir. You can serve this with chips, carrots and many other things.


Enjoy.