We've been making fish 'n' chips here with
Alaskan cod and a beer batter in our little
deep-fat frier. It's very good, but not
quite like the genuine English style that
I remember.

I was hoping that one of our friends from
Merry Ol' could give me the run-down on the
Real Thing.

Unbelevably, even though we are in the in high-
plains desert of central Arizona, we found a
source for excellent made-in-England fish and
chips vinegar, which is a must-have.

Anybody have a good recipe?

Thanks,

RG

some people may beg to differ but i would say,

use haddock, my favourite, coat in a lightly seasoned flour mix,i have coated it in rice flour, that works.

for the batter, there are so many different mixes, just use a good simple recipe and play with it a bit till you get the one you like,

you can add beer if you like but most chippies just use a plain batter, you might even like to try a tempura batter mix, that is nice and light,

coat the fish in batter dunk it into the hot fat and let it sit there, don't play with it and push it around in the fryer, give it a couple of minutes on one side then turn it gently, when it is a light golden brown its done.

for the chips, they have to be a good size, not too fat and definitely not skinny ones, the kind your gran used to make!

blanch them first in the fryer till just soft but still white in colour. remove from the fryer and leave to cool slightly.
when you are ready to eat pop the chips back in until golden brown, they then should be golden and crispy on the outside and fluffy inside.

drain and serve.

the last thing you must not forget are the mushy peas, these are essential.

dish up then add a good bit of salt and some malt vinegar.

there you have it!

im so hungry now ive written that!

National Geographic did a bit a few years back and stated that alot of the fish sold in fish and chips in London in in fact......shark. You might want to go shark fishing to get that genuine flavour If you need a fishing buddy just let me know. I also make a nice batter and am willing to cook each day for a free shark fishing trip

Do a Google search on Authentic English "Fish and Chips" You will find a number of recipes.

quote:

blanch them first in the fryer till just soft but still white in colour. remove from the fryer and leave to cool slightly.
when you are ready to eat pop the chips back in until golden brown, they then should be golden and crispy on the outside and fluffy inside.

This is how we do it too, my wife was taught to cook first at 300 degrees until they are done but have not browned at all. Remove for 15 minutes, then heat the oil to 350 and cook until browned on the outside.

Gives that wonderful crisp on the outside and soft on the inside goodness!

Sadly, it seems most places no longer serve it wrapped in newspaper, but that is the only way we fix it here.

I can say from trying this, that cooking "chips" in two batches, with two different temperatures, is the way to get CRUNCHY fries!

Here's the kicker, the temps and times depend on the type of potato AND the size that you cut them.

But that is the fun, and frustrating part, of cooking.

Thanks for the replies, folks!

Nice run-down, Alex. I had not heard that
haddock was used; it is a different tasting
fish than cod. And our beer batter may not
be the right thing either. Good. We will make
another batch with haddock if we can find any
here, and try a plain batter.
Your trick of cooking the chips twice is
something I hadn't heard before. We'll try
that too.

Calgary, yes I seem to remember the bit about
shark too. What a fine excuse for a shark-
fishing trip! There are plenty of blues off the west coast and they are very good eating
if they are headed, finned, and gutted and
iced down pronto. And more excitement and
fun for the buck than just about anything.

And Oday, I left off "authentic English" on
my search- I'll try it again

Mark- Idon't have temp control on this little
frier we have, but since I don't have enough
dinero for another rifle, how about an
additional frier! Yeah, one for the fish and
and an adjustable for the chips. Yeah.

And 577, you're liking the double-up on the
chips too. One adjustable frier commin' up.

I used to stop in at an English-style pub
in San Francisco called the Rose and Thistle'
Just off Van Ness Ave near the BMC
dealership. Next to the pub was a fish 'n'
chips place owned by a fine English chap from
London and he made the best I've had and I've
been looking for that flavor since.

Well, now I'm starvin'.

Thanks, everyone. Ain't it great to be alive
so you can eat?

RG

We used to blanch the fries in the covection oven and leave them in the fridge overnight (about 250lbs per night) The starch grains swell up and you'll have wonderful fries. It doesn't matter how you pre-cook them, in oil, in boiling water, in the oven all work but give slightly different textures.

I prefer boiled but you have to really watch them not to overcook them, almost nobody does it this way because of the time used. You can also fill one deep fryer with water and drop the potatoes in to boil, drain well in the frying basket until almost dry, then plunk them into a seperate fryer filled with oil. I suppose peanut oil is the best, and it works better for fries once it's gotten a little dirty. So cook the fish first then the fries, fishy tasting fries won't matter that much when you're eating fish anyway.

the chef

Say, Calgary, that sounds very do-able-
Boil the fries the day before and leave in
fridge over night, then fry fish followed by
fries. I think I'll try that this week.

Thanks!

RG

Let me know how it turns out!

when making beer batter the beer should be warm and flat. better still - soak the fish in the warm flat beer for at least 30 minutes and then make you batter with buttermilk. Buttermilk is a great liquid for any batter.

quote:

National Geographic did a bit a few years back and stated that alot of the fish sold in fish and chips in London in in fact......shark.

More specifically it's spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias),



They can be OK food if you take care of them immediately after catching them. Head off, fins/tail off, gutted and slushed in saltwater/ice.

I prefer angel shark for beer battered deep fried fish above any other fish. Holds its shape while frying and is white with big flakes.

Go to Andreas Harborside Restaurant at the harbor in Ventura, CA. That's what they use in their fish & chips and it'll be some of the best you'll have.

I'm using grapeseed oil to deep fry fish in now, high smoke point, has a light fruity flavor and is much healthier. More expensive, I buy it by the gallon at the restaurant supply place for around $10/gal.

I make a copy of the McCormicks Beer Batter and use a lager like Harp, brewed by Guiness, as the beer. I can tell the difference.

I keep the batter chilling in a bowl that's sitting in a bowl of ice water. Like doing tempura, it makes it crispier and 'seals' the batter so there's no pockets of oil under it.

And I use a frying thermometer and do a few pieces at a time.

I usually make deep fried calamari along with fish as well as onion rings. Big red onion, sliced, rings marinated in Balsamic vinegar and then coated with batter before frying.

3 Monks malt vinegar and a radish tartar sauce that has a nice, cool bite to it.

quote:

Originally posted by RG Rhodes:
We've been making fish 'n' chips here with
Alaskan cod and a beer batter in our little
deep-fat frier. It's very good, but not
quite like the genuine English style that
I remember.

I was hoping that one of our friends from
Merry Ol' could give me the run-down on the
Real Thing.

Unbelevably, even though we are in the in high-
plains desert of central Arizona, we found a
source for excellent made-in-England fish and
chips vinegar, which is a must-have.

Anybody have a good recipe?

Thanks,

RG

I don't have the Original from Merry Ol', but I do have a good one!

I also favor Cod Fish!....Soak the Cod for a few minutes in a deep dish with Lowenbrau Beer...

1/4 Fill a Med. size Zip-Loc bag with Drake Seasoned Crispy Batter Mix and put one piece of Cod Fish in the Bag and shake good....

Remove from bag and place in a Frying pan filled with Hot oil that covers Half of the fish....

Remove fish from frying pan as they turn Golden Brown....

OH Man, Some Delicious Tasting & Crispy Battered fish on the planet!

The most difficult thing to emulate at home is the temperature for the fryer. We would fry at 390-415 or higher if there was a bigger batch going into the pans. Ideally we used groundnut or best vegetable although in the north they uses some beef dripping or half and half. Personally I prefer the cleaner taste of groundnut and veg oil to dripping.

THe dogfish (usually know as rock in the UK) is any of the dogfish/spurdog/huss or smoothhounds that are found around our coast. I'm with Alex though. I like haddock if you can getthe big fillets or Cod.

Rgds,
FB

The best batter (in my opinion) is made with beer and "self raising flour", nothing else. Coat the fish lightly with the flour before dipping in the batter. Do not make the batter too thick, just enough so that it clings to you finger when you dip it in the mixture.
The real secret of course is fresh fish, NEVER frozen.

Tell me why the F&C in Scotland seems always to have the skin on the flesh, but immediately south into England.....there is no skin. Also, the Scottish F&C seem universally more greasy.
I grew up in Winnipeg, where there was a "Bristol Fish and Chips" on Ellice Avenue....only used halibut....my Dad was a halibut-only F&S addict...and he taught me his tastes. I have never found the equal of that old and tiny F&C joint. Doggone, these are great memories!!!

Boy, do you guys go to a lot of trouble with the simplest of things! Try this one for drill: take a cup of pancake batter mix - the kind in a box- and add a cup of Bisquik mix, then stir in enough club soda or beer to make a batter about as thick as butter milk. Add seasonings you like; I use salt, cayenne and black pepper and Old Bay seasoning. Roll the fish pieces in flour and let dry for a couple of minutes, then dredge in the batter. I like to stick the pieces with a knife point, then slip them gently into the hot oil - don't dump them in or they may stick to the bottom. Also don't use tongs on the pieces as they cook or you will break the batter coating away. Don't over cook them and try and make all the pieces as near the same size as possible. I love to do this with halibut!
For the fries, I don't really have a preference as I typically want fish, hushpuppies and cole slaw. If I'm doing shore lunch I cook the potatoes with onions, sliced and dumped in a paper bag with flour, salt and pepper, give it a shake and put it into the grease. Add about a gallon of ice tea and away we go. And don’t get in front of me when it is time to eat!

quote:

Originally posted by calgarychef1:
National Geographic did a bit a few years back and stated that alot of the fish sold in fish and chips in London in in fact......shark. You might want to go shark fishing to get that genuine flavour If you need a fishing buddy just let me know. I also make a nice batter and am willing to cook each day for a free shark fishing trip

A buddy went through Eastern Australia in a rental motorhome. Saw a sign advertising the best fish'n'chips! He said it was the best he'd eaten! And yes it was shark!!

Shark is certainly one of the most popular types of fish used for that style of cooking here in Oz.(although technically it is not a fish) The reasons are simple, good economies of scale, firm flesh with good flavour, easy to fillet, ie no bones. Most sharks used are of the smaller reef variety, the larger ones being too high in mercury and having lesser flavour.

quote:

although technically it is not a fish

Sure they are, they're cartilaginous fish of the Class Chondrichthyes.

quote:

Originally posted by Skinner.:

quote:

although technically it is not a fish

Sure they are, they're cartilaginous fish of the Class Chondrichthyes.

Well I'll be "fooked", I was always taught that technically fish had to have : both scales and a skeleton.

I'll quote Wikipedia,

"The term fish is most precisely used to describe any non tetrapod chordate (ie an animal with a backbone) that has gills throughout life and has limbs, if any, in the form of fins. Unlike groupings like birds and mammals fish are not a single clade but a paraphyletic collection of taxa including sharks and rays......... now I feel better. However the opening paragraph states that "Fish are aquatic vertebrates that are typically ectothermic, covered with scales" It's all very clear but confusing.

Anyway, they sure taste good.