Fish and chips: beer in the batter and chips fried twice
The British classic rests on two techniques, both of which work through the same phenomenon — water leaving fast. In the batter that job is done by beer: carbon dioxide pushes the coating open, and alcohol evaporates faster than water, so the batter dries crisp before the fish inside can dry out. In the chips it is done by double frying: the first, cooler fry cooks the inside, the second, hotter one builds the crust.
Your own work in that: 1 h 40 min.
- Chips 55 min
- Batter 10 min
- Frying 35 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneCut and soak the potatoes
Peel the potatoes and cut them into thick 1.5 cm chips. Cover with cold water and soak 30 minutes, then dry them very thoroughly on a cloth. Soaking washes free starch off the surface, the starch that makes chips stick together and colour unevenly.
Ingredients: 1200 g potatoes · 2000 ml rapeseed oil · 1 tsp salt
TipDrying is not optional. A wet potato dropped into hot oil flashes its water to steam and sprays fat across the kitchen.
Thick chips, half an hour in water, then dryFry the chips the first time
Heat the oil to 140 °C and fry the chips in batches for 6 minutes (three or four batches, about 20 minutes in all). They should soften but stay pale — this is not the stage for colour. Lift onto a rack and cool completely, at least 15 minutes.
TipThe first fry cooks the inside of the potato and dries its surface. Without it a chip is brown outside and raw within, whatever the timing.
One hundred and forty degrees, pale and softMake the batter with cold beer
Mix the flour, starch, baking powder and salt. Pour in the very cold beer and whisk briefly, leaving lumps. The batter should be as thick as cream. Make it just before frying: the bubbles escape within minutes and the coating stops puffing.
Ingredients: 700 g cod fillets · 200 g plain flour · 50 g potato starch · 330 ml lager · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 tsp salt · 50 g flour for dusting
TipThe starch replaces some of the flour, so the batter has less gluten — it is what makes the coating brittle rather than tough and bready. Cold beer releases its gas more slowly.
Cold beer, brief whisking, lumps stayCoat and fry the fish
Heat the oven to 100 °C. Heat the oil to 180 °C. Pat the fish dry, dust it in flour and dip it in the batter. Lower it in away from you, slowly, and fry 6–7 minutes, turning once. The coating should be deep gold and blistered. Fry two pieces at a time, about 15 minutes in all. Drain on a rack set over a baking tray and keep in the warm oven while you finish the chips.
Ingredients: 700 g cod fillets · 200 g plain flour · 50 g potato starch · 330 ml lager · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 tsp salt · 50 g flour for dusting
TipDon't put in more than two pieces at once. Each drops the oil temperature by tens of degrees, and below 165 °C the batter absorbs fat instead of frying.
One hundred and eighty degrees, six minutes, deep goldFry the chips hot
Raise the oil to 190 °C and fry the cooled chips in batches for 3 minutes (about 12 minutes in all), until deep gold and rigid. Lift them out, salt immediately and shake. Salt only sticks to a chip that is still hot and slightly oily.
One hundred and ninety degrees, three minutes, then saltServe at once
Serve immediately, with a lemon wedge, vinegar and tartare sauce. Fish and chips has ten minutes of life — after that steam from beneath softens the batter from within and the whole effect is gone.
Ingredients: 1 pcs lemon · 2 tbsp malt or cider vinegar · 150 g tartare sauce
Lemon, vinegar, tartare sauce, immediately
Before you start
Which fish
Classically cod or haddock — white, flaking fish with firm flesh. Hake and pollock also work. Avoid oily fish (salmon, mackerel): in hot oil they turn heavy and greasy.
Without alcohol
Alcohol-free beer or cold sparkling water work almost as well — the bubbles matter, not the alcohol. The coating will be slightly less crisp and brown a little less.
Thermometer or test
Without a thermometer: a cube of bread dropped into oil at 180 °C browns in roughly a minute, and noticeably faster at 190 °C. It is only a rough guide — for deep-frying a thermometer really is worth having.
Tartare sauce in a minute
Mayonnaise stirred with chopped capers, gherkin, shallot and lemon juice. Homemade is noticeably better than bought and takes exactly as long as one batch of chips.
