Chef notes
This has to be one of my absolute favorite dinners. Don't be afraid of shallow-frying the fish — once you have a nice high-sided pan and a controlled heat, everything will work out nicely, but do be careful when cooking with hot oil.
Technique tip: Make sure not to overcrowd the pan when cooking the fish as this will reduce the heat. Also, preparing your batter in advance will speed up the process.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds waxy potatoes, cut into chips
- canola oil, for deep frying
- sea salt
- malt vinegar, to serve
- 4 skinless and boneless white fish fillets, cut into thick strips
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more to coat the fish
- 1 cup cold beer
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- canola oil, to fry
- lemon wedges, to serve
Preparation
For the chips:
Place the potato chips in a large, heavy-based casserole or Dutch oven and pour over the canola oil until it covers them. Place over a high heat and bring to a steady boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes before gently moving with tongs to loosen any that are stuck to base. Continue to cook for a further 5 minutes or so or until they turn golden-brown.
Remove with a slotted spoon to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and season generously with sea salt and vinegar. Keep warm in a low oven.
For the fish:
1.Top the casserole or Dutch oven up with more oil if needed and bring it back to temperature over a medium-high heat. It needs to be very hot when you start to fry.
2.Coat the fish in a little flour, shake off the excess and set aside.
3.Place 1 cup of flour in a large mixing bowl, make a well in the middle of it and pour in a little beer and mix through, keep adding the beer and mixing until you have a smooth batter. Season generously and then drop a little of the batter into the hot oil, if it floats and puffs up, the oil is hot enough. Working beside the pan, dip the fish strips in the batter one at a time and then into the hot oil. Make sure not to overcrowd the pan.
4.Cook for about 4 minutes until golden-brown, turning halfway through the cooking time.
To serve:
Once done, remove the fish from the pan using a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with some parchment paper. Season with a generous sprinkle of sea salt, some lemon wedges and a good helping of chips.
