If you would like to make classic fish and chips at home this easy recipe will produce a tasty chip shop style plate.
Quantities in the recipe below are for two people however it is very easy to scale up for more people round the table. The preparation time will be about ten minutes with a further cooking time of thirty minutes.
Ingredients Fish And Chips At Home
2 x Cod fillets from Walter Purkis Sons (skinned and boned)
Fresh Lemon Wedges
Sea Salt for seasoning
4 x large potatoes – a floury variety such as King Edward or Maris Piper will be a good choice
Vegetable oil for frying
For The Batter
250ml water/beer
120g self-raising flour
1/2tsp Salt
Allow some extra flour for dusting the fish fillets
Cooking Method For Fish And Chips At Home
For advance preparation start with the chips. Peel and cut into chips aim for 1cm width and height. Go for a length of about 8cm depending on the size of your potatoes, much longer and they may well break up. Rinse several times to remove any starchy juice. Place the rinsed chips into a large pan with plenty of fresh water. Bring to the boil and simmer over a gentle heat. Cook for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender and start to get “fluffy” on the outside. Keep checking the pan as some batches of potato will get to this stage faster than others – avoid a pile of mash and starting again.
Drain the par boiled chips and spread onto a baking tray. Put these in the fridge allowing them to dry off. This promotes a nice golden brown finish. Its hard to brown a wet surface so allow a coupe of hours drying time.
Cooking The Chips
Heat your oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, large enough to contain all the chips and enough oil to cover them – 180°c will be a good temperature.
Fry chips for about 6 – 8 minutes or until golden and crunchy. When done remove from the oil and put into a warmed serving dish with some paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
Preparing The Batter
Combine the self-raising flour and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Then slowly add the water, or beer (cold). Use a whisk to stir until well combined as a smooth liquid without lumps
Cooking The Fish
Using a deep pan as for the chips, heat to 180-190°c
If you don’t have a thermometer you can do a visual test. Take a blob of butter and drop into the hot oil. If the batter rises to the surface right away and the oil bubbles all about it, then it is hot enough to fry. Your test should turn brown in sixty seconds.
Dredge the fish fillet in some flour then dip into the batter. The fish should be well coated all over, but hold over the bowl to allow any excess to drip off. Place gently into the hot oil avoiding any splashes.
Dip each fish portion in the yeast batter and fry at 180’C for 3 – 4 minutes or until the fish is golden brown.
When cooked dry on a paper towel and season well with sea salt. Serve right away with the chips and lemon wedges.
If you are looking for some more cooking inspiration we have a great selection of cod recipes here>>