Nothing can beat homemade fish and chips!

You have a choice of what fish to use and basically whatever takes your fancy should work. Just a few things to keep in mind. Meaty fish are a good option, smoked or fresh sustainably caught cod or Cooley, pollock, red snapper, and, I’m  pretty sure this is a sin… On occasion monk fish. Very expensive but very delicious. I would steer clear of salmon or other oily fish because whilst never home cooking this I have eaten it out and found the oil to fish ratio a little overwhelming, there’s just something about oily fish deep fried in oil that leaves a film of grease in your mouth… ( unpleasant )

Using a sparkling water or beer gives a lovely light and crispy texture. I have experimented with plain, self raising and gluten free flour in the batter and all 3 work fine but I have had such great results with the gluten free flour that now that’s the flour I use for my batter.

The fish cooks really quickly and a problem I used to have was that the fish was cooked before the batter had taken on that lovely golden colour. The solution? Add a half teaspoon of turmeric to the batter. Perfect results every time.
Another important part in this process is to insure the oil is hot enough before you lower the fish in. Take a small piece of bread and drop into the oil. If it starts to bubble up on contact with the oil you are good to go.

Ingredients 

• Frying oil
• 400g plain self raising or gluten free flour
• 550ml very cold beer or sparkling water
• Half tsp turmeric
• Half tsp salt

Method

Heat the oil in a chip pan or deep fat fryer to about 185C. Do the bread test if you don’t have a thermometer.
Whisk the flour, turmeric, salt and flour with the beer or water until you have a thick paste. Have your bowl next to the fryer. Dip the fish into the batter an then carefully lower the fish into the hot oil. Make sure to agitate the frying basket to prevent it from sticking. Cook for about 6 minuets, lift out and drain on kitchen paper.
Mmmmmmm!