Things in Batter

For anyone who has tried to fry things encased in batter and failed, it can be quite daunting. For one thing, there’s all that hot, bubbling fat. Up until a couple of years ago, I wouldn’t even stand within a 10 metre radius of boiling fat, lest it should irrationally spew itself all over my delicate skin.
Of course, whilst fat does spit a little, notably when you drop things in it, if you’re careful and sensible, there should be no house fires, no third degree burns and certainly no horrible fried food.
And, unlike buying from the local chippy, you can control what goes in your batter, how long you cook it for and the cleanliness of the oil.
We all know that fried food is almost as bad for you as dating an unrehabilitated serial killer but damn! it does taste good. There is nothing in the world so good as biting through crisp batter (drained thoroughly and not soggy) into white, flaky, creamy fish. And the best batter of all? Beer Batter.
Beer Batter is like the Rolls Royce of the batter kingdom. Not light enough to coat delicately sliced vegetables tempura style, but not stodgy enough (and too expensive) for chip shops. It coats fish, onion rings, mushrooms and probably Mars Bars, beautifully. There is no pappy underbelly and it provides a wonderful coat of armour for whatever you choose to dip in it, protecting your food from the intense heat, ensuring that it remains piping hot and steamy, rather than dried out and yukky.
And once you start using batter, you may never stop finding things to try. We restrained ourselves at mushrooms but we gave serious consideration to bananas and then various chocolate bars. Thankfully, we didn’t have many lying around. We had planned on serving our battered fish in the traditional style, which is to say, with chips. However, the potatoes can fry up a little too sweet at this time of the year so we parboiled some new potatoes then fried them up. Paul made a fourth attempt at making some mayonnaise which was partially successful and we served the whole thing on a bed of bitter leaves.
Another consideration would be Cider Batter, a perfect medieval coating for perhaps Elderflower blooms or Courgette Flowers or slices of Apples.
Finally, there’s the matter of whose going to drink the leftover beer…
BEER BATTERED HADDOCK (or cod) serves 2
Ingredients:
2 x 150g Haddock or Cod, skinless, cut at the thick end of the fillet
150g Self-Raising Flour
100ml Lager, chilled
Salt and Pepper
Oil for Deep Frying
METHOD:
Preheat your frying oil, either in a deep fat fryer or a large saucepan to about 160c. You want the fish to fry gently not ferociously in the fat.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, some seasoning and the beer. It should be the texture of thick double cream to ensure a good coating. Add more beer if necessary, more flour if too thin.
Season the fish on both sides, then lightly dust with flour. This will help the batter adhere to the fish.
You may need to fry the fish in batches so dip one piece at a time, making sure it is completely coated before gently plunging into the hot oil. It will fizzle as the batter starts to bubble up and then gradually turn a beautiful golden brown.
If you are cooking in a saucepan, you may need to turn the fish over using tongs as it tends to bob up to the surface.
Fry the fish for between 5-6 minutes.
Drain on kitchen paper and serve with the potato based dish of your choice, preferably chips.
Enjoy!