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Fishing for compliments

Fish and chips are a happy childhood memory for LYNN BAIN.

Dad was a foodie before being a foodie was even a thing.

He would pop the family in the car and off we would go, looking for a shop that sold fish and chips that were better than the fish and chips we had the week before.

All this fish and chip searching ceased when Dad decided that he would make his own.

This involved young me being his sous chef, watching everything he did and listening as he explained the process of getting the ultimate batter.

I'm sure Dad would approve of the following batter. It’s a simple soda water batter recipe that can be used for anything, even pancakes or crepes.

The twenty-mile round trip to shop for the best nougat, with Dad at the wheel, is another childhood story for another day.

Handy hint 1: Self-raising flour, cornflour or gluten-free flour could be substituted for the plain flour in the batter. If you are going to use cornflour, please be aware that the batter will not turn golden when cooked (strange but true).

Handy hint 2: The liquid element in the batter could be either water, beer (pale or dark), mineral water or soda water. The important factor is that the liquid is ice cold.

Handy hint 3: For the chips, you could use potato, sweet potato, beetroot or, indeed, a combo of all of them. After cutting the vegetables into chippy sized shapes, soak them in water for at least half an hour. Then remove the chips from the water and dry them thoroughly. I have found that sweet potato chips are best, to my taste, with a light dusting of flour before frying.

Fry your chips in medium-hot oil until they are nearly cooked. Then remove the chips from the oil. Next, increase the oil temperature to hot and return the chips to the oil and cook them until they are golden brown. Cooking chips this way will give you a soft, fluffy interior and a golden crispy exterior. Yum!

Handy hint 4: To check when the temperature of the oil is hot enough for cooking your fish, drop a cube of bread into the hot oil. If the bread cube goes golden brown in about 40-45 seconds, then the temperature is hot enough for cooking your battered fish.

Handy hint 5: If you are deep frying your fish in batches, then scoop any cooked bits of batter off the surface of the cooking oil between batches. These bits of batter can burn and make the oil taste bitter.

FISH AND CHIPS

Ingredients

1-2 fillets of fish (depending on the size of the fillet)

1 cup plain flour (see handy hint 1)

pinch salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup icy cold soda water

Canola or rice bran oil, for frying

Method

Step 1: Add the flour and salt to a sieve over a large bowl.
Step 2: Sift the dry flour and salt into the bowl.
Step 3: Beat the eggs lightly.
Step 4: Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture. Add the beaten eggs and soda water to the well in the bowl.
Step 5: Starting in the centre of the bowl, slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the liquid.
Step 6: When all the flour mixture is stirred into the liquid, whisk the batter vigorously. Allow the batter mixture to stand for about an hour.
Step 7: Heat the cooking oil in either a large saucepan or deep fryer until hot (see handy hint 4). Pat the surface of the fish dry with some paper towel. This will help the batter to adhere to the surface of the fillet.
Step 8: Coat the fish fillet in the batter, allowing any excess batter to run off the fish.
Step 9: Place the batter-coated fish fillet into the hot oil and cook on one side until the batter is golden.
Step 10: Turn the fillet over and continue to cook until the fish is cooked through. Cooking time will depend on the thickness of the fillet. When cooked, remove the fillet from the pan and drain on some crumpled paper towel or bread crusts.
Step 11: Your fish ‘n’ chips are ready to eat with perhaps a wedge or two of either lemon or lime and (my favourite accompaniment) mushy peas.

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