Beer-Battered Fish and Chips

Ingredients

• 2 g cod fillet, skinless and about 180 g each
• 600 g potato, peeled and cut into 1 cm chips
• 150 g wheat flour
• 50 g cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2½ dl beer, fridge cold
• 1 l vegetable oil, for deep-frying
• 200 g frozen peas
• 2 tbsp fresh mint, finely shredded
• 20 g butter
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper

Method

1. 1.

   Rinse and dry the chips — Rinse the cut chips in a bowl of cold water, changing it until the water runs clear, then drain them and dry them properly in a clean tea towel. Wet chips spit in the oil and steam themselves soft instead of crisping.

2. 2.

   Blanch the chips at low heat — Heat the oil to 140°C in a deep, heavy pan filled no more than halfway. Blanch the chips in two batches for 7 minutes each — they should end up floppy and cooked through but still pale. Lift onto a wire rack.

3. 3.

   Whisk the cold beer batter — Whisk 120 g of the flour with the cornstarch, baking powder and 1 tsp of the salt, then pour in the fridge-cold beer and whisk just until it comes together to the thickness of pouring cream. Leave the lumps and use it immediately — a rested batter loses its lift.

4. 4.

   Fry the battered cod — Raise the oil to 180°C. Dust each cod fillet in the remaining flour, shake off the excess, dip it into the batter and lower it into the oil away from you, holding the tail for a couple of seconds so the coating sets before you let go. Fry 6 to 7 minutes until deep gold and audibly crisp.

5. 5.

   Drain on a rack, uncovered — Drain the fish on a wire rack rather than paper, sprinkle with a little of the remaining salt and keep it somewhere warm and uncovered. A plate or foil traps steam and softens the batter within a minute.

6. 6.

   Crisp the chips a second time — Bring the oil up to 190°C and return the chips, all at once, for 3 to 4 minutes until they are blistered and deeply crisp. Drain, tip into a warm bowl and salt them hard while they are still glistening.

7. 7.

   Crush the peas and serve — Simmer the peas in salted water for 3 minutes, drain them and crush roughly with the butter, mint and black pepper, leaving plenty of whole peas for texture. Serve everything at once with lemon wedges and the cider vinegar to shake over the chips.