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Friday fish-fry. Fish 'n chips. Whatever you want to call it, fried fish is a real treat if you can acquire your own fish locally. Up in the Northern Plains, Walleye, Perch, and Crappie are king. Back home in Georgia, it was Rainbow Trout and Catfish. Pick your poison and get ready for a simple recipe.
Shopping List:
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Prep:
Thoroughly pat your fish dry! This is an important step. Batter will not stick to wet fish. Yes, the fish had spent its entire life in water, but trust me, water is not your friend here. This is a great step to ensure your fish fillets are devoid of bones. Fish bones are a mood-killer when you're devouring this stuff.
Combine your spices and liberally rub the mixture on your dry fish (both sides, of course).
Crack open your beer. It should be a somewhat mild beer; Pilsners work well, some neutral-ish Ales do, Lagers are solid. Steer clear of Stouts, Porters, strong IPAs, and anything fruity.
Prepare your batter by mixing beer and cornmeal in a bowl until you get a somewhat coarse, yet wet batter. This is a very eye-ball measure. The closest consistency-wise reference I can give is a gritty pancake/waffle batter. You can never have too much batter prepared, especially since the requisite ingredients are pretty cheap, so don't worry about having to add more beer/cornmeal.
Get a heavy and deep-ish fry pan and add a lot of oil of your choice (Canola/Peanut) to somewhere near 350 degrees F.
Prepare your tartar sauce from scratch. This is super subjective. Some people love pickles, some people hate them. You don't even have to add dill if you don't want to.
Get ready to wash your hands a lot. You'll be frying in batches, and you want your batter freshly applied to the fish right as you place it in the oil. This stuff is sticky.
The Business:
Thoroughly coat a piece of fish in your batter. Submerge it in your bowl of batter pretty well and then carefully (stress: carefully) place it in your heated oil to begin frying it. If you're shallow-frying it, you'll have to flip it once during the cooking process, but if you have a high-enough-walled fry pan, you can get away with 'technically' deep-frying it.
Depending on how much oil and the size of your pan, you should only add a couple of pieces of battered fish at a time. The two main points are:
1) Don't crowd the pan. Unless you like Pangaea-fish.
2) Let the temperature of the oil stabilize after each piece.
The great thing about frying white fish is that it cooks in about the same time as the batter, so generally when the batter is golden-brown and delicious, your fish will be properly cooked. Pro-tip: since you'll be frying in batches, you can keep an oven on low temperature (<200 degrees F) to help finish off the fish and keep it warm.
When you're ready to serve, liberally squeeze a fresh lemon all over your creation and garnish if you feel pretty. Serve with good fries if you're going for the authentic 'Ye Olde British Fish(e) and Chips' aesthetic. My personal favorite is to do some roasted broccoli (pictured) and wild rice. It's your call.
Thoroughly pat your fish dry! This is an important step. Batter will not stick to wet fish. Yes, the fish had spent its entire life in water, but trust me, water is not your friend here. This is a great step to ensure your fish fillets are devoid of bones. Fish bones are a mood-killer when you're devouring this stuff.
Combine your spices and liberally rub the mixture on your dry fish (both sides, of course).
Crack open your beer. It should be a somewhat mild beer; Pilsners work well, some neutral-ish Ales do, Lagers are solid. Steer clear of Stouts, Porters, strong IPAs, and anything fruity.
Prepare your batter by mixing beer and cornmeal in a bowl until you get a somewhat coarse, yet wet batter. This is a very eye-ball measure. The closest consistency-wise reference I can give is a gritty pancake/waffle batter. You can never have too much batter prepared, especially since the requisite ingredients are pretty cheap, so don't worry about having to add more beer/cornmeal.
Get a heavy and deep-ish fry pan and add a lot of oil of your choice (Canola/Peanut) to somewhere near 350 degrees F.
Prepare your tartar sauce from scratch. This is super subjective. Some people love pickles, some people hate them. You don't even have to add dill if you don't want to.
Get ready to wash your hands a lot. You'll be frying in batches, and you want your batter freshly applied to the fish right as you place it in the oil. This stuff is sticky.
The Business:
Thoroughly coat a piece of fish in your batter. Submerge it in your bowl of batter pretty well and then carefully (stress: carefully) place it in your heated oil to begin frying it. If you're shallow-frying it, you'll have to flip it once during the cooking process, but if you have a high-enough-walled fry pan, you can get away with 'technically' deep-frying it.
Depending on how much oil and the size of your pan, you should only add a couple of pieces of battered fish at a time. The two main points are:
1) Don't crowd the pan. Unless you like Pangaea-fish.
2) Let the temperature of the oil stabilize after each piece.
The great thing about frying white fish is that it cooks in about the same time as the batter, so generally when the batter is golden-brown and delicious, your fish will be properly cooked. Pro-tip: since you'll be frying in batches, you can keep an oven on low temperature (<200 degrees F) to help finish off the fish and keep it warm.
When you're ready to serve, liberally squeeze a fresh lemon all over your creation and garnish if you feel pretty. Serve with good fries if you're going for the authentic 'Ye Olde British Fish(e) and Chips' aesthetic. My personal favorite is to do some roasted broccoli (pictured) and wild rice. It's your call.