Recipe: Fish and Chips

Posted by spots (Singapore, Singapore) on 24 July 2004 in Food & Cuisine and Portfolio.

Mel came over to hang & pray with Bim, so I decided to make fish & chips! It's the kind of fun, afternoon dish that doesn't require much work. And the best part is, I finally got to use the ton of fish my mom gave me when we visited her recently. ^__^. Here's the recipe for the beer-batter fish. (I just baked frozen chips in the oven, so no need recipe for that!)

Beer-batter fish from Great Cooking Classics (The Australian Women's Weekly Cookbooks)

1.5 cups (225g) self-raising flour

1 egg

1 can (375ml) of beer

10-12 fish fillets *

1 cup japanese mayo

1 tbsp lemon juice **

1 tbsp finely-chopped chives ***

* I used frozen dory fillets, for no particular reason than I had so much of it in the freezer. But dory does work well, because it has a firm texture, so it's actually not a bad choice at all.

** Personally, I find 1 tbsp lemon juice too much. The tartare sauce was a bit too sour for my liking. I'll probably skimp a bit on it the next time.

*** Being a personal fan of chives, I actually put in about 3-4 tbsp.

1. Whisk the flour, egg and beer together in a mixing bowl until smooth^, cover; refridgerate 1 hour.

2. Heat up oil in large pot.

3. When oil is ready^^, deep-fry fish in batches, until browned and crisp.

4. To make tartare sauce, combine the last three ingredients and stir well.

5. Serve with chips, ketchup, chilli sauce, aeoli^^^ and tatare sauce.

^ I just used a fork. Don't think there's need for an electric whisk here.

^^ Here's a tip: to test whether the oil is "ready", throw in a bit of batter. If the oil is ready, the batter should sink and immediately float up to the surface. If the batter sinks, stays there for a while and then floats up, the oil is not hot enough. If the batter doesn't sink, the oil is a wee bit too hot!

^^^ Most people are unfamiliar with aeoli. It's unfortunate because aeoli is one of THE best spreads I've ever tasted. I love the stuff! It's not very common in Singapore supermarkets, so I had to drag my newly-minted husband across Spain just to find a bottle when we were on our honeymoon. However, good news! We stumbled on a shop that sells aeoli in little bottles - it's at Greenwood Avenue, next to Lana Cakes. And coincidentally, the shop also sells fish & chips! :)