Recipe for fish ‘n’ chips
The English cuisine may not quite compare with either the Italian or the French, but it certainly has its merits. Almost everything considered English is viewed as particularly classic and traditional—this includes not only the monarchy but also the food. Just think of afternoon tea with an array of small sandwiches and scones, or a traditional English breakfast with baked beans, hash browns, scrambled eggs, sausages, and English bacon. Not to mention the “kitschy” festive dish, Beef Wellington.
And then, of course, there’s fish ‘n’ chips: the epitome of English fast food and take-away. To call it England’s national dish might be an exaggeration, but it is nonetheless one of the best dishes the dear Britons have concocted.
The method of preparing fish in batter/beer batter (beer dough) supposedly originated from Spain and Portugal, after which Jewish immigrants from the Netherlands brought it to England in the 1500s. The actual dish, fish ‘n’ chips, emerged in the 1860s, and just fifty years later, there were as many as 25,000 fish ‘n’ chips stands spread across the United Kingdom. After another twenty years, that number had risen to more than 35,000. In 2009, the number had fallen to just 10,000.
My recipe includes cod prepared in a traditional batter, which gives you a fantastically delicious and crispy batter!
And the fries are, of course, thick with a soft interior and a crunchy exterior.
I have also served tartar sauce and a creamy pea purée.
Fish ‘n’ Chips Recipe
Fish 'n' Chips
Ingredients
Cod
- 250 gram Cod
- 15 gram Salt
Beer Batter
- 125 gram Wheat Flour
- 3 gram Coarse salt
- 14 gram Butter Melted
- 100 gram Water
- 100 gram Beer
- 14 gram Vodka
- 1 pcs. egg white
Large Fritters
- 2 pcs. Baked Potato
- 1 l Water
- 15 gram Vinegar
- 1 l Frying Oil
Pea Puree
- 450 gram Peas
- 1 clove Garlic
- 2 gram Broad leaf parsley
- Spices Salt, pepper, and lemon juice
Tartar Sauce
- 100 gram Mayonnaise
- 12 gram Sour Cream
- 9 gram Capers
- 1 pcs. Cornichons
- 3 gram Onion
- 2.5 gram Mustard Dijon
- Spices Salt and pepper
Instructions
Cod
- Cut the fish into equal-sized pieces and perform a gourmet salting for 5 minutes. The fish should be covered in coarse salt on both sides for the 5 minutes.
- Rinse the fish free of salt under cold water.
- Pat the fish dry with a clean cloth. Make sure it's well-dried.
Beer Batter (beignet batter)
- Put flour and salt in a bowl and mix together.
- Melt the butter, for example, in the microwave.
- Pour beer, water, vodka, and melted butter into the bowl with the flour and salt.
- Mix everything well until there are no lumps in the batter.
- Refrigerate the batter for at least 1 hour before using it.
- Whisk egg whites until stiff.
- Fold the stiffly beaten egg whites into the batter just before use. The batter is now ready to use.
Thick-Cut Fries
- Scrub the potatoes thoroughly before cutting them into thick sticks.
- Boil the potato sticks in water with vinegar for 5 minutes.
- Drain the water and lay the potatoes to dry on a clean tea towel, letting them cool a bit.
- The fries should be fried in 3 stages: First, heat the deep fryer to 140 degrees Celsius (284 degrees Fahrenheit) and fry the fries for 5 minutes.
- Take the fries out and let them dry/cool on a clean tea towel for at least 30 minutes.
- Increase the deep fryer to 160 degrees Celsius (320 degrees Fahrenheit) and fry the fries for 2 minutes. Lay them to dry on a tea towel again for at least 30 minutes.
- Now increase the deep fryer to 190 degrees Celsius (374 degrees Fahrenheit) and fry the fries for 2-3 minutes until they are golden and crispy.
- Drain the fries on a piece of kitchen paper and sprinkle with salt. The fries are now ready for serving.
Pea Purée
- Put peas, parsley, and garlic into a pot and cover with water.
- Boil the peas for 5 minutes.
- Drain the water from the boiled peas and pour the peas into a blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Season the pea purée with salt, pepper, and lemon. The purée is now ready for serving.
Tartare Sauce
- Mix mayonnaise and crème fraîche in a bowl.
- Finely chop all ingredients and add them to the mixture.
- Season with mustard, salt, and pepper.
Fried Fish
- Dip the fish pieces in the beignet batter and place them in the deep fryer one at a time. Fry them for 2.5 minutes, and they are ready to serve.
Serving
- Traditionally, it's served in a cone with tartare sauce at the bottom, fries, and fish on top, and the pea purée in a bowl on the side. If you don’t have cones, you can also serve it as I did here.
Notes
Let them lie on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 170 degrees Celsius (338 degrees Fahrenheit).