RD’s Classic Beer Batter Fish & Chips

Okay, as much as I hate to admit this, I just love deep fried fish. I know it’s not the healthiest way to cook your food, but just like KFC… every once in a while, I just have to get that deep fried fix! Speaking of KFC, wouldn’t it be cool if you could order a barrel or just the skin? Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…

This recipe works well with most types of fish and of course, walleye is awesome, but I use cod, haddock and halibut a lot too. There’s something a little more traditional about the old Irish pub style that I really like. Make sure you try my tartar sauce too!

This beer batter works great with chicken, shrimp, onion rings, etc.

Ingredients

4 boneless and skinless fillets of fish cut to the serving size you’d like
4 large potatoes pre-baked. Russets work well for deep frying.
Canola oil for frying
1 pint of beer
1 cup of flour
1 tsp salt
Granulated garlic
Dry basil
Dry oregano

Tartar Sauce

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 small dill pickle finely chopped (can use hotdog relish)
Squirt of lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh dill
Salt to taste

IMPORTANT Safety Tip

If you’re inexperienced, be VERY careful if you’re deep frying on your stove top. If the hot oil ever boiled over onto the element, you’d burn the kitchen down! The oil should be close to 375 F, but no hotter. If you’re not sure, buy a thermometer designed for this type of thing and use it.

Put the first piece in very slowly to see how the oil reacts. Better still… take the hot pot of oil OFF the stove when you put your first piece in. Put the pot of oil in the empty sink or something, just in case it boils up on you. I recommend you buy a separate fryer that you plug into the wall outlet. This way it’ll be on the counter and not the stove top.

Okay, enough safety stuff, let’s eat!

If you want GOOD chips prebake the potatoes first. Restaurants normally blanch the fries at about 325 F first, then crisp them up at about 375 F when the order comes in. But, prebaking ALWAYS gives you an awesome, light and crispy spud. When I prebake my potatoes for deep frying, I usually cut them into to wedges. Let them cool for a while first. If you cut and fry them right away after you bake them, they’ll just fall apart.

Preheat oil to 375 F. If you can, use two separate frying pots; one for the fish and one for the fries. No reason other than it gives you more room and you won’t have to jam everything in the same pot. Also, you won’t have to have the fries sitting in the oven while you cook the fish, or vice versa.

Cut the potatoes into wedges and put them off to the side.

Combine flour and salt in a medium sized bowl. Mix in most of one pint of beer. Depending on what type of beer you use, or what type of flour… you might need all of the pint, or just most of it. The batter is better a little too thin that a little too thick.

Fry wedges until they’re golden brown. They’ll just take a few minutes, tops.

Dredge fish in dry flour which will help the wet batter stick to it. Dip the fish in batter and fry for a couple minutes per side. If you cut the fish fairly thin, they’ll cook quickly.

When you remove the fries and fish, place on paper towel to help remove some of the fat.

Season the fish with salt.

Season the fries with granulated garlic, dry basil, dry oregano and salt.

Mix all ingredients for the tartar sauce.

Garnish with fresh lemon slices and serve immediately!

Serves 4

Pound ‘er Down!