Fish & Chips

Nothing beats a Kiwi classic like fish and chips, even better when it's homemade with fresh fish.

To serve

1 chips (see recipe below)
1 lemon wedges
1 tartare sauce (see recipe below)

Ingredients

1 litre neutral oil for frying
11/3 cups plain flour, well chilled
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
250ml very cold lager
600 grams firm white fish,
cut into serving portions

Chips (GF) (V)

6 large agria potatoes
Neutral oil for cooking
Sea salt

Tartare sauce

½ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons finely chopped gherkins
1 tablespoon grain mustard
1 tablespoon chopped capers
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon sea salt

METHOD

Heat the oil in a deep saucepan to 180 °C, or until a piece of bread dropped in turns golden in 30 seconds.

Whisk the baking powder and salt into the chilled flour. Quickly whisk in the cold beer until you have a thick batter. Do all of this just before you cook the fish.

Dip your fish into the batter then, holding it on the slimmer end, very slowly lower it into the oil so the batter starts to instantly puff up before lowering it fully into the pan. If you let go straight away it will sink to the bottom and stick on the base of the pan.

Chips (GF) (V)

Peel and cut the potatoes into chips, then place in a large saucepan of salted water. Bring to the boil and cook until the chips have started to soften. Carefully drain and set aside to cool. This can be done well ahead of time.

Heat 1 cm of oil in a large sauté pan and cook the chips until golden, tender on the inside, and crisp on the outside. Drain on kitchen towels and sprinkle with sea salt.

Tartare sauce

Stir all the ingredients together in a bowl. Makes about ¾ cup.