River Cottage

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipes Beer battered fish recipe

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Date Published:
04/09/2007

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

  • 200g plain flour
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • groundnut oil, including plenty for frying
  • about 250ml good beer – anything really, including stout, but preferably not cheap lager
  • mixed fish of your choice, such as fillets of plaice, pouting or whiting, squid rings, even scallops or oysters

Method: How to make beer battered fish

1. Sift the flour into a bowl, or put it in a bowl and whisk it. Add 2 tbsp groundnut oil then gradually whisk in the beer, stopping when you have a batter with the consistency of thick emulsion paint. Beat it well to get rid of any lumps, season well, then leave it to rest for 30 minutes or so.

Beer battered fish

2. Heat a good 10cm depth of oil in a heavy-based pan until it reaches 160deg;c, or until a cube of white bread dropped in turns golden brown in 2-3 minutes.

3. Dip your chosen chunks of fish into the batter and lower them into the hot oil. Do this in batches, so as not to crowd the pan. Fry large pieces of fish for 4-5 minutes, and smaller items, such as squid rings, for 2 minutes or so, or until golden brown and crisp.

4. Scoop them out and transfer to a warm dish lined with kitchen paper. Keep them warm while you fry the remaining fish, then serve straight away with tartare sauce.

© River Cottage

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Comments

  1. thanks for a brilliant effort in posting your article. One one can be more informative like this. Many things I can to know only after reading your wonderful article.
    Posted by Edible Flower Bouquet on 07/11/2009 06:37:26
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  2. Made the batter with some Deuchars ale and used whiting as the fish - best battered fish i have ever had
    Posted by Scottish Food on 22/10/2009 08:35:13
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  3. I tried this with fresh Pollack, after seeing it on River Cottage. The batter was excellent, especially used with fresh Ling. However I wouldn't bother with the Pollack. There was virtually no flavour to the fish, so it's something I'll be putting on the 'catch and release' list.
    Posted by paul on 28/09/2009 10:45:33
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  4. This batter is superb. Tried it with a ale and my new clinet really loved it
    Posted by Catering Glasgow on 20/08/2009 15:47:06
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  5. Hi to all Chefs any thoughts on on using beer batter for yorkshire puddings or toad in the hole Thanx Auz
    Posted by auz on 19/06/2009 16:33:47
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  6. I love fish dishes but as much as possible refrain from those cook with oil. Unless otherwise the oil is virgin olive or virgin coconut. How about doing it via steaming?
    Posted by hampers on 04/06/2009 05:14:12
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  7. Yep, that's good batter. Goes great with Great Barrier Reef Sweetlip (caught last night off Cairns Qld).
    Posted by Mark Davis on 03/02/2009 22:09:46
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  8. Hi tryed the beer battered fish recipe on River Cobbler. Really good the whole family loved it and none was left. So much better cooking your own fresh to buying it. Thank you look forward to trying some more super recipes.
    Posted by jane on 09/11/2008 09:43:00
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  9. This batter mix is great - my husband said it's the best he's ever had. I used 4.7% Tsing Tao beer, and added a small pinch of bicarbonate of soda. I left it in a slightly warm place for 25 minutes and fried it in a mix of vegetable, peanut, sesame and olive oil.
    Posted by Angela P on 07/11/2008 20:48:26
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  10. A good batter recipe. dripping is by far the best fat for frying in, as used in chippies across yorkshir - you can get it to a much higher temp, therefore crisper, but the taste is by far superior
    Posted by johnharding on 07/11/2008 18:37:07
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  11. I think the batter needs 2 eggs
    Posted by simon on 26/10/2008 21:33:28
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  12. Where's the tartare sauce recipe that the instructions says is below?
    Posted by CK on 26/10/2008 02:01:19
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  13. Why is the batter soft, have tried 10 recipes always the same problem, we are frying with corn oil
    Posted by Jeffrey McBurney on 04/10/2008 08:42:20
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