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I'm 41, have a chef diploma, and I have never cooked Fish and Chips.

Now I would like to make it, but before I do so, I would like to have your opinions on just about everything: what fish, batter, seasoning, temperature of oil, what sauce on the side, methods etc etc. I want it to be right from the first time, and I'm pretty sure you British guys have a lot of opinions on how they should be made...

So, any input is most welcome. Thanks in advance!

I'm not a British guy.

Cod
Beer batter made with a Burton ale, like Bass
a little salt and maybe black pepper
182.2 - 185°C
malt vinegar or tarter sauce
double fry technique for the chips

Oddley had a thread going on here a few years back looking for the perfect fish and chips, especially the batter. There were lots of recipe suggestions. I'm hopeless at finding this stuff, but it might be worth a look.

HTH

Jen

It's entitled Fish batter in the general cookery section.

I'm playing with a batter now that we will use for a fish sandwich, and I was thinking I might play with it for fish and chips also. This produces a very nice crunchy coating. I'd probably use a good ale or perhaps a stout instead of the soda water. Anyway the recipe as listed works pretty well, I had to add a bit more instant mashed potato, but also make sure you wait till the IMP absorbs the moisture if you try it. First time I thought it was too loose (soupy), so I added more flour, then I had to adjust back again a bit later with more soda. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Mz4NTozNXw

Use only fresh fish, not frozen, as it really effects the texture, they tend to get mushy not flaky after freezing, and make sure the fish is at room temp and is dry. Not too thin a fillet either. I experiment using strips, so I can play with the batter and not make a ton of finished product while experimenting and adjusting.

for us its malt vinegar and coarse sea salt on both the fish and the chips

May not be a traditional beer batter, but makes one nice crunchy coating.

Oh yeah looked at my notes again, it works quite well with just the batter, or use fine bread crumbs instead of panko. For us the panko will flake off too much and create a oil issue, but for small batch home use should be ok any way.

The best fish and chips I ever tasted were fried in beef dripping.

Okay, thank you so far. Anyone else?

BTW, what do you think of this recipe? Reliable? It's scanned from the cookbook Culinaria:

What flour would you recommend in the batter? I have a theory that rice flour or maybe potato flour might be good. IMO, wheat tends to make batters for deep frying stodgy.

SR Flour, Water and seasoning - simples!

grisell wrote:What flour would you recommend in the batter? I have a theory that rice flour or maybe potato flour might be good. IMO, wheat tends to make batters for deep frying stodgy.

I was going to ask what stodgy meant, but decided to look it up here are my results:

1.
unimaginative: lacking originality, flair, or imagination ( informal )
"another stack of stodgy poems"
2.
formal or pompous: boringly or laughably conventional, formal, or pompous ( informal )
"one of his stodgy dinner parties"
3.
filling: heavy and filling to eat and usually fairly tasteless ( informal )
4.
heavy and plodding: heavy, bulky, and plodding

So I guess it means either unimaginative, heavy, or tasteless. Perhaps all three?

JLPicard wrote:

grisell wrote:What flour would you recommend in the batter? I have a theory that rice flour or maybe potato flour might be good. IMO, wheat tends to make batters for deep frying stodgy.

I was going to ask what stodgy meant, but decided to look it up here are my results:

1.
unimaginative: lacking originality, flair, or imagination ( informal )
"another stack of stodgy poems"
2.
formal or pompous: boringly or laughably conventional, formal, or pompous ( informal )
"one of his stodgy dinner parties"
3.
filling: heavy and filling to eat and usually fairly tasteless ( informal )
4.
heavy and plodding: heavy, bulky, and plodding

So I guess it means either unimaginative, heavy, or tasteless. Perhaps all three?

Sorry. Language problems. Stiff is a better word, I think(?).

wheels wrote:SR Flour, Water and seasoning - simples!

And SR is short for - what?

Self-Rising.

I would double fry the chips, it makes them crispier.

grisell wrote:

wheels wrote:SR Flour, Water and seasoning - simples!

And SR is short for - what?

I think that's Self Rising Flour.

Sorry - Self Raising.:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour#Self-raising_flour

wheels wrote:Sorry - Self Raising.:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour#Self-raising_flour

Thanks! Now that I got it from three persons, it must be correct.