Fish and Chips

Fish and Chips is an international favourite, you can't beat good fish and chips (especially by the seaside). When cooking chips you should always use good floury potatoes such as Maris Piper or King Edward. You need to rinse your potatoes in water to remove the starch before cooking, I like to soak mine for 30 minutes when time allows. To get a crisp chip you should deep fry them twice once in oil at 160°C and then at 190°C, this should give you a nice crispy chip with a tender centre.

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6 Portions
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Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: Cooking Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

Fish

  • 6 fillets of white fish such as haddock or lemon sole
  • 300g calamari or squid rings (optional)
  • 100g rice or corn flour

Batter

  • 250g self raising flour
  • 150ml beer
  • 1 egg
  • maldon salt and a pinch of white pepper

Chips

  • 800g floury potatoes e.g. Maris Pipers
  • oil for deep frying
  • salt

To Serve

  • lemon wedges
  • vinegar
  • tomato sauce

Method

  1. Chips:Peel the potatoes and cut them into wedges 4-6cm long and 1cm wide and thick. Place the potatoes in a bowl of cold water and leave them to stand for 10-30 minutes or rinse them thoroughly in cold water. Remove the potatoes from the water and dry them thoroughly.
  2. Heat some oil in a deep fryer, wok or large saucepan to 150-160°C (the oil should half fill the container). When hot cook the potatoes in batches for 4-5 minutes until they are tender but not golden, drain the potatoes on some kitchen paper (It is important not to overcrowd as this will reduce the cooking temperature and will stop them from cooking evenly). Heat the oil to 180-190°C and cook the potatoes in batches for 1-2 minutes so that they are golden and crisp, when removed from the oil place them on kitchen paper to drain. Sprinkle with a little salt and serve. *To test the temperature of the oil use a thermometer or to test it has reached 190°C drop a cube of bread in it and the bread should float to the top and be golden.
  3. Batter: Place the flour in a bowl with a little salt and pepper. Make a well in the centre and place the egg and beer in it. Whisk the mixture together until you have a smooth batter.
  4. To Cook: Preheat oil in a deep fryer or wok to 190C (see chips). Place the rice flour on a plate and coat the fish and calamari in it. Shake off the excess flour then dip them in the batter so that they are coated, shake off any excess batter and deep fry a few pieces at a time in the oil for 3-5 minutes turning them over half way through cooking. Deep fry the calamari rings for 1-2 minutes. Drain the fish and calamari on kitchen paper. Keep them warm in a low oven while you prepare the remaining fish.
  5. To Serve: Serve fish and chips with a wedge of lemon and a container of vinegar and tomato sauce for guests to help themselves.