Recipe: Beer-battered Fish & Chips!

Serves 2 - Cooking & prep time 1 hour

What you need

Sunflower oil, for deep-frying

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 white fish fillets (we used cod) de-boned

1 cup (225 g) flour, plus extra for dusting

1 & 1/3 cups (285 ml) cold beer, we used English brown ale (Newcastle Brown)

3 heaped teaspoons baking powder4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced into chipsSaltFreshly ground black pepper

Directions

This is one of the most traditional English dishes around and what better way to enjoy this hearty golden brown treat than with the legendary Newcastle Brown Ale. It’s perfect for when you’re by the sea or cosying up one evening and the best thing is that it’s dead easy!

Pour the sunflower oil into a large frying pan (or deep fat fryer). Heat to 190ºC/375ºF. Mix together the salt and pepper and season the fish on both sides. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and of course the beer! Once the mixture is smooth (but still thick as it needs to stick to the fish) dust each piece of fish with a little flour and dip into the batter. Allow any excess batter to drip off. Next, lower the fish into the oil (BE CAREFUL NOT TO GET SPLASHED). Cook until the batter is golden brown and crisp (approx. 5 mins). Place the fish on a baking tray and put in the oven for a few minutes at 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4 to finish cooking and keep warm while the chips are cooking.

While fish is cooking, soften chips in boiling water for about 5 min, then leave to dry in a sieve or colander. Then fry them in the oil that was used for the fish at 180ºC/350ºF until golden and crispy. Once cooked, drain on kitchen paper and serve with fish. Season with salt vinegar & ketchup!