Fish 'n' Chips

World-Bites (17) / Fish 'n' Chips

Fish 'n' Chips come from England, and you can’t imagine an English town without a Fish and Chip shop. Before the onslaught of Indian Chicken Tikka Masala, Fish 'n' Chips remained England's number one national snack. It is not as hard as you might think to create your own perfect Fish 'n' Chips at home. It just takes a little preparation time, that’s all. The actual cooking is done in just a few minutes and the preparation time can also be measured in minutes. You can use any kind of fish with this recipe, but for genuine English Fish ‘n’ Chips, it is best to use a white fish such as Cod or Haddock. The fish, although it is deep fried, actually cooks inside the batter, and is really steamed because it never touches the oil, just the batter does. You can’t really call it a low fat recipe, but if the oil is hot, the fish is very crispy, holds very little fat and tastes steamed. Most people eat fish 'n' chips with tomato ketchup, but the English sprinkle dark vinegar (malt vinegar) over the fish 'n' chips.

1 1/2 pounds potatoes, washed and peeled
2 pounds fillets of cod or haddock
Seasoned flour for dredging
Oil (for deep-frying)
1 egg (at room temperature)
1 cup water
1 cup self-rising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly-ground pepper

Start preparing exactly 40 minutes before serving time. Slice potatoes into long sticks about 1/4-inch thick. Put sticks into a bowl and cover with ice cold water to soak. This will remove some of the starch and will result in a crispier and less fattening French fry.

Prepare the batter by breaking the egg into a large mixing bowl and lightly whisk with the water. Still whisking, add the flour, a little at a time. Make sure all lumps of flour are beaten out so that you finish up with a smooth consistency. Add salt and ground pepper and set aside.

Thoroughly wash the fish fillets under cold running water. Check to ensure that all bones have been removed. Divide the fish into 8 equal pieces ? 2 per serving. Carefully dry with paper towels and dredge each piece in seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. Heat oil to 375 degrees F to 400 degrees F. At the same time heat up 1 inch of oil in a heavy-bottom frying pan to the same temperature.

While the fat is slowly getting up to temperature, drain the potatoes, getting as much moisture from them as possible with paper towels. Dip each piece of fish into the batter mixture. Allow excess batter to drip back into the bowl and gently immerse the fillet in the hot oil. Do not cook more than 2 or 3 pieces of fish at a time. The inside of the fish will be cooked when the outside batter is a mid to light brown. Turn the oven to low so that you can keep the cooked pieces of fish warm while the others are cooking.

Take 2 handsful of potatoes and carefully release them into the deep-fryer. When golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon so that you can shake off the excess oil, and turn onto paper towels.
Seaso lightly with salt and serve wrapped in a newspaper cone with malt vinegar and/or ketchup.