food

Best Ever Fish & Chips

It's time for the Best Ever Fish and Chips recipe that you will ever come across. Yes, you read that correctly. The Best Ever Fish and Chips. Perfect for lunch and dinner.

food

Best Ever Fish & Chips

It's time for the Best Ever Fish and Chips recipe that you will ever come across. Yes, you read that correctly. The Best Ever Fish and Chips. Perfect for lunch and dinner.

Supplies

  • 4 cod fillets, pin-boned, from sustainable sources
  • 225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 285ml cold ale
  • 3 heaped tsp baking powder
  • For the mushy peas:
  • 25g unsalted butter
  • 150g frozen peas, defrosted
  • 1/2 a lemon
  • For the chips:
  • 800g Maris Piper potatoes
  • Beef dripping, for frying

Steps

  1. Peel your potatoes and cut into chips – approximately 1cm for thick-cut chips. Rinse well under cold water. Put the chips into a pan of cold, salted water, and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes, then drain, pat dry and allow to cool, then put in the fridge until cold.
  2. Heat beef dripping to 120 C, and add the chips - don't overcrowd the pan! Cook for about five minutes until cooked through but not at all coloured.
  3. Remove, drain, pat dry, and refrigerate again until cold.
  4. To make the mushy peas; place the butter in a pan over a medium-low heat, add the peas and mint, pop the lid on and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
  5. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and season to taste with sea salt and black pepper – you can either mush the peas up in a food processor, or mash them by hand until stodgy, thick and perfect for dipping your fish into. Keep them warm until needed.
  6. Season the fish fillets on both sides with 1 teaspoon salt – this will help to remove any excess water, making the fish really meaty.
  7. Heat the fat to 160 C and preheat the oven to 170 C / 150 C fan. Add the chips to the beef dripping pan and cook until crisp and golden, then remove, drain, season and keep warm in the oven.
  8. Turn the heat up to 190 C, whisk the flour, beer and baking powder together until combined – the texture should be like slightly whipped double cream. Dust each fish fillet in a little of the extra flour, then dip into the batter and allow any excess to drip off. Holding one end, gently lower the fish into the oil one by one, working carefully so you don't get splashed – it will depend on the size of your fryer or pan how many fish you can cook at once. Cook the fish for 4 minutes, or until cooked through and the batter is golden and crisp, then remove to kitchen paper to drain.
  9. Serve the fish, chips and mushy peas and douse it all with malt vinegar finishing with a sprinkle of salt.