Beer-battered sichuan flathead tails

SERVES 4

Flathead are a beautiful eating fish with a sweet, delicate flavour and firm white flesh. They are pretty ugly to look at, though, as they have a large flat head, a big mouth and a couple of poisonous spikes. I get mine from my fishmonger, who is an expert at filleting. The ‘tails’ are in fact the fillets of the flathead – I don’t know why they became known as flathead tails, but in the industry they are known as a ‘V-cut flatty’, which is the skinned and boned fillet.

I use olive oil for frying the flathead, but you could also use peanut or vegetable oil. I also don’t really deep-fry but more shallow-fry the fish, which means you have to turn the fillets over when the first side is cooked.

This is a great beer batter because the rice flour gives a crisp, crunchy texture, and the saltiness and the spiciness from the sichuan peppercorns will make your mouth pop! To get a crisp result you want the batter to be as cold as possible, so make sure your beer has been in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before pouring it into the flour. You can even rest the batter in an ice bath while you make it.

2 tablespoons sichuan peppercorns

90 g (3¼ oz/½ cup) rice flour

1 tablespoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

330 ml (11¼ fl oz) bottle of pilsner-style beer

olive oil, for shallow-frying

12 small flathead tails (100 g/3½ oz each), or 6–8 large tails, cut in half into two long fillets

Put the peppercorns in a small frying pan and dry-fry them gently until they smell fragrant and start to smoke. Grind to a powder using a mortar and pestle. Put the peppercorn powder in a bowl with the rice flour, salt and white pepper and give it all a good mix. Add about 125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) beer to the bowl and mix to a batter – I like a batter that’s slightly thicker than pouring cream, but if you like your batter thin add more beer, or less if you like it even thicker. (Sip the rest while frying the fish!)

Heat about 2 cm (¾ inch) olive oil in a large saucepan or wok. You can tell the oil is at the right temperature when it begins to shimmer – you don’t want it to reach smoking point as this will burn the fish. Drop the fish pieces into the batter and coat well. Carefully transfer the fish (I use my fingers for this, as tongs can tear the fish) to the hot oil and fry until golden, turning them over once. Depending on the size of your pot or wok, you would probably fry the fish in two batches. Remove from the oil using tongs or a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Serve hot, with some lemon cheeks, tartare sauce or chilli mayo.

Beer Notes

Try Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Trumer Pils or a good local craft-brewed pilsner such as Red Angus Pilsener or Blue Tongue Traditional Pilsner for this dish