Beer Battered Fish ’n’ Chips

Home-made fish 'n' chips can sound and feel daunting until you actually try it out. I can promise that after you see how easy and tasty it is you'll be hooked – excuse the pun. The fish and chips are deep fried, so this wouldn't be a dinner for every night of the week but rather a treat now and again. Served with minted mushy peas – it is a classic combination that won't disappoint.

Ingredients

4 medium fillets of white fish

(cod, haddock, whiting, etc.)

Sea salt and black pepper to season

1kg scrubbed potatoes, skins left on

225g plain flour, plus some for coating

3 heaped tablespoons bicarbonate of soda

284ml good beer/lager

1 litre of vegetable oil

1 lemon

Method

• Cut the fillets into 5cm/2in-wide strips, making sure they are free of bones. Season with a pinch of salt and a generous amount of black pepper and set aside.

• Preheat the oven to 150ºC.

• Cut the potatoes into thin chips, skins and all.

• To make the batter, sift the flour into a mixing bowl, add a pinch of salt and the bicarbonate of soda. Pour in the beer/lager and whisk together – you are looking for a double cream consistency. Allow it to foam up or rise.

• Half fill a wok with vegetable oil and put it on a medium/high heat (it shouldn’t get too hot too quickly).

• Pop a chip in to test the oil – if it rises to the top the oil is ready. Remove the chip. Dip a piece of fish into a shallow bowl of flour, coating it all over, then straight into the batter, again coating it fully. Carefully lower it into the hot oil. You can cook two or three pieces at the one time. Give them a few minutes and turn them over in the oil using kitchen tongs. Once golden on both sides, remove carefully onto a baking tray and pop into the oven – this will finish off the cooking and dry off some of the oil making the batter dry and crispy. Repeat for the remainder of the fish.

• Once the fish pieces are all in the oven, put the chips carefully into the same oil. When they’re golden remove using a large slotted spoon. Serve with a wedge of lemon and, of course, salt and vinegar.

  Tip: Get your fishmonger to skin and bone the fish fillets.