Picture this; you are on vacation and you sit down in a pub for some dinner. You are enjoying great music and you look over the menu. You decide you want to try the Fish & Chips. They bring out the most beautiful looking fish for you to enjoy. They are golden brown and crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. You squeeze some fresh lemon over top and dunk them into a fresh, homemade Tartar Sauce. Maybe even drizzle a little Malt Vinegar over top. The fries served with the fish are also golden, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside and seasoned perfectly. You even dunk some of the fries in that yummy Tartar sauce. You drink down a nice cold beer to go along with this perfect meal. You are in food heaven!
Ireland Pub-Irish Musicians
Fish & Chips is of English origin consisting of fried battered fish and it is served with hot chips. It is an early example of culinary fusion. I have tried Fish & Chips in many places but have a fond memory of it while my husband and I were traveling through Ireland visiting the many Pubs. You can find it in just about every Pub in Ireland, especially in Dublin. It was particularly good in Dublin since they are so close to the sea, giving them access to an abundance of fresh fish. I discovered a fun fact about Ireland and Fish & Chips. In Ireland, the first fish and chips were sold by an Italian immigrant, Giuseppe Cervi, who mistakenly stepped off an America-bound ship at Cobh (then called Queenstown) in County Cork in the 1880s and walked all the way to Dublin. He started by selling fish and chips outside Dublin pubs from a handcart. He then found a permanent spot in Great Brunswick Street (now Pearse Street). His wife Palma would ask customers “Uno di questa, uno di quella?” This phrase (meaning “one of this, one of the other”) entered the vernacular in Dublin as “one and one”, which apparently is still a way of referring to fish and chips in the city.
Ireland, Visiting the Pubs
Nowadays, you can find Fish & Chips almost every where you go. I have been wanting to recreate Fish & Chips at home for quite a while now. I must admit, I have attempted to make Fish & Chips several times and I actually messed it up a couple of times. The first attempt resulted in just OK fish & chips. The 2nd time I tried to make them, my batter didn’t adhere nicely to the fish and I didn’t achieve that nice golden color and crispy crust. That didn’t keep me away. I knew I was going to keep trying until I got this one perfect. That is how much we love this dish and how determined I was. Even my kids love it. After a couple of failed attempts, I broke down and bought them frozen beer battered fish and they liked it. But even my family was determined to have me try it again.
After several attempts, I discovered a few key steps to making a great batter. If you like a light and crispy crust on the fish you can achieve this by adding a raising agent. You can accomplish this with baking powder or yeast, or by making the batter with a carbonated liquid, such as sparkling water or beer. I happen to really like the beer batter. One key tip to adding the beer is to whisk it in slowly (but don’t over mix; you want a nice thick batter). Another tip is to place the batter into the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes. Using fish that is nice and dry, dredging it in flour first and then dipping it into the batter makes a huge difference. That seem to give the batter something to really adhere to. Last tip I can give is to make sure you use the right type of oil and make sure it heats up to the correct temp before placing the fish in to fry. Otherwise, your fish and crust will soak up too much oil resulting in a burned and/or not so crispy of a crust. Well, like they say: “3rd times a charm“, right?! My 3rd attempt at this dish turned out beautifully. I achieved that golden, crispy crust and tender & juicy fish inside. We were finally back in food heaven! My husband and I couldn’t be happier. It made me want to dance in the kitchen; my happy fish dance. Don’t ask what that looks like!
There is nothing better than making it from scratch, finally cooking it perfectly and seeing your entire family enjoy every last bite. Hearing your kids tell you it is one of the best meals you have ever made is music to my ears!
Mangia! Enjoy!
Beer Battered Fish & Chips
Makes approx. 5-6 Servings
Ingredients
Beer Batter:
1 1/2 Cups, All-Purpose Flour
1 (12 oz.), Beer
1 Teaspoon, Garlic Salt
1 Teaspoon, Onion Powder
1/2 Teaspoon, Old Bay Seasoning
S&P
Fish:
6-8 Cod Fish Filets *(I used Wild Caught Cod in this recipe)
Olive Oil, for frying
Extra Flour for Dredging Fish:
1 Cup, All-Purpose Flour
1/2 Teaspoon, Garlic Salt
1/2 Teaspoon, Onion Powder
1/2 Teaspoon, Old Bay Seasoning
S&P
Fries:
6-8, Butter Potatoes, cleaned and cut into wedges
S&P
1 Teaspoon, Garlic Salt
Few Tablespoons, Olive Oil
Few Sprigs, Fresh Rosemary, finely chopped
Few Sprigs, Fresh Lemon Thyme, finely chopped
Garnishes:
- Fresh Parsley
- Lemon Wedges
Instructions
Make the batter: In a mixing bowl, add 1 1/2 cups of flour, garlic salt, onion powder, old bay seasoning, S&P and mix well. Using a whisk, slowly add the beer and mix just until all combined. Your batter should be really thick; it is OK if it is lumpy. Place the batter in the fridge for approx. 20 minutes.
Wild Caught Cod
Make the fries: Cut the potatoes into large wedges. Place the potatoes into a large mixing bowl, cover with cold water and let them soak for about 20 minutes. This will help pull some of the starch out of the potato. Remove the potatoes, lay them on a towel and dry them. Once dry, transfer them to a mixing bowl. Drizzle the potatoes with a good amount of Olive Oil and then season with the S&P, garlic salt, fresh Rosemary and Lemon Thyme. Mix well until all potatoes are coated. Transfer to a baking sheet (make sure you first spray the tray with some cooking spray). Bake in 400 degree oven for approx. 15 minutes then flip the fries over. Cook another 10 minutes or until they start to get nice and golden brown on outside and tender on inside. To keep the fries warm while cooking the fish, keep them in the oven at 200 degrees (same oven as the fish; see below for more on adding fish to oven after frying it).
Seasoned Fries-Ready for oven!
While the batter is chilling, cut the fish. Cut each filet in half or if they are really large filets, cut in thirds. Using paper towels, dry the fish really well. Make sure the fish is nice and dry before you dredge and batter them. Once they are dry, season each piece of fish with S&P.
Seasoning the Cod
Make flour mixture for dredging fish: using a bowl or plate, add the remaining cup of flour with garlic salt, old bay seasoning, onion powder, S&P and mix well. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Spray a baking sheet and rack (a cooling rack you would use when cookies come out of oven-place it directly on top of tray) and place in the oven.
Place a large cast iron skillet on the stove over medium to medium-low heat. Once the pan is hot, add your oil (you want about 1″ of oil in the pan). Heat the oil until it reaches 375 degrees (you can use a thermometer to test the temp). If your heat is too high, turn the burner down a bit. You do not want to see smoke coming off the oil; that means it is reaching its smoking or burning point.
Coat/Batter the Fish: start by dredging the fish in the flour mixture and coat all sides. Dredge just enough pieces to fit in your skillet (my large skillet held about 5 pieces); you do not want the fish to be touching each other. After dredging the fish in the flour, dip them in the batter (completely cover the fish with the batter). Gently shake off excess batter and carefully lower them into the hot oil. Cook for approx. 5 minutes per side, until nice and golden brown. After you cook on each side, transfer each piece of fish to the baking sheet/rack in the oven. This will keep the fish nice and hot until you finish cooking all of it.
Frying the Cod
Repeat the process until all fish is cooked. Serve with some of the homemade Fries. A cute way to serve this meal is in a basket with a liner.
Garnishes/Sides:
- Lemon Wedges
- Garnish/sprinkle with some fresh, chopped parsley on top
- Side of homemade Tartar Sauce (mix together mayo, relish and paprika; taste and adjust as needed)
- Bottle of Malt Vinegar
- A nice cold Beer!!
Beer Battered Fish & Chips
Mangia! Enjoy!
Tips
Extra Flour/Battering Fish: Making sure the fish is nice and dry and by dredging the fish in flour (before the battering) helps the batter to adhere to the fish. Keeping the batter cold prior to coating the fish also helps. Try not to over whisk the batter also; you want it to be thick.
Oil: If you are not a fan of Olive Oil you can substitute with other oils that you do like. If you do, just make sure it can take high heat without burning. There are some oils that are not meant to use for frying. Believe it or not, not all oils are created equal. Each has its distinct place when it comes time to cooking with them. A few oils that are ideal for frying are: Avocado, peanut, palm and sesame oil. I used a good Rich & Fruity Olive Oil in my Fish & Chips recipe. You may not see Olive Oil used a lot in frying but I have to say that my Fish & Chips turned out beautifully. They had that perfect golden brown crust. You could also use Coconut oil, which has fast become one of my favorite oils to use when cooking & sautéing. If you plan to fry with coconut oil you may want to consider getting a refined coconut oil which has a smoke point of 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Unrefined coconut oil only has a smoke point of 350 degrees and therefore could end up burning if it gets too hot; especially if frying up a few batches of the fish.
Tender Cod Fish & Chips
Homemade Tartar Sauce: if you do not have relish, check to see if you have any pickles on hand. You can simply chop up some pickles and add them to the mayo and paprika. If you like, you can also add some lemon juice, capers and vinegar. Play around with the flavors and see what you like. We usually start with about a 1/2 cup of Mayo and then add a few tablespoons of the relish and about 1 teaspoon of Paprika and then taste it. If you like a smokier flavor you can use a smoked paprika. We usually end up adding more relish to it!
Beer: You can use any type of beer that you like. One of the keys to a good batter is the fizz. If you don’t want to use beer you can substitute with a bubbly seltzer/soda water; just make sure you get some fizz!