Fish & chips!
When we think of English food, we think fish and chips. Luckily, it’s one dish our boys had interest in trying out for our Around the World Series: England edition. I have never in my life deep fried anything (I know, am I really a Southerner??), so my husband helped a great deal with this one. I have to say, it was a lot easier than I expected it to be!
We started out by cutting our potatoes (if you like potatoes, try this recipe too!) into curly fries using this kitchen gadget. Ours is from Pampered Chef, but here’s a similar one. I accidentally ordered small golden potatoes from Instacart, but they worked just as well as larger potatoes would have. Next time, I’ll try to buy 4 large golden yellow potatoes. We cut our potatoes then soaked them in water for 20 minutes to remove some of the starch from them. If you skip this step, you’ll end up with mushy fries.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks!
Our potato slicer removes the core from whatever you run through it, so we cut the cores into strips and fried them along with the curly fries. Pat any excess water off the fries and they’re ready for the oil! We used regular vegetable oil and heated it to 400 degrees. The fries go in for about 5 minutes, or until tender, then they’re pulled out and drained on a paper towel lined baking sheet.
We came up with our own mix of seasonings for the fish batter and kept it really simple. I’ve found with kids, simple is best especially when trying new foods from other cultures and countries. Now, we do have an English pub nearby that serves fish and chips, but I’ve never actually made it so I wanted to give it a go. Is it easier to just call up and order from them? Yes, absolutely, but I wanted to try it myself. Here’s how we did it:
Our seasoning consisted of salt, garlic salt, black pepper, and onion powder mixed into the flour along with the wet ingredients which included an egg, beer and milk. We did half and half beer and milk but you could do all milk or all beer if you prefer. For exact measurements, see recipe at the bottom of this post.
We ended up cutting our cod filets in half again so they weren’t quite so long and that was definitely the right decision. I think next time we may make a few nuggets for the kids too. Nuggets are just an easy kid dish!
Our 7 year old helped us mix up the batter and we placed it in the fridge while we cooked the fries. The fries take only 5 minutes or so to cook until tender.
While our fries were draining, I dredged the cod filets in plain white flour then they went into the batter. A nice thick coat of batter made for very pretty fried filets when they were done!
We did give them a gentle occasional stir while they were cooking to prevent them from sticking to one another. We used 1 1/2 pounds of cod filets and had a good bit leftover. We popped the leftover filets into the toaster oven the next day for lunch and they were great! They crisped up nicely after 6 minutes of toasting (flipping halfway through).
We served our fries with a homemade garlic and smoked paprika mayo topped with dried parsley and served the fish with a fresh lemon and malt vinegar. Restaurant style lunch baskets with newspaper inspired liners made it feel even more authentic! You can find the ones we used by clicking here.
Pim’s Cup on the side to wash it all down! So refreshing with a plate full of fried goodness.
We really enjoyed making something new and I can now say that I’m a true Southerner having finally deep fried something! I know it’s not the healthiest way to cook (by far!), but it’s totally worth it once in a while to have something crispy and breaded and comforting. Fish and chips will certainly make their way back to our table sometime in the future.
Let me know if you give this dish a go! I’d love to see your pics so tag me on social media! Just for fun, I pulled together some style and home finds that felt very England-inspired for you! Check them out in the Shop This Post slider below. Those flower earrings are too cute and we use our toaster oven (similar to the one linked) all the time! It’s what we use to reheat our leftover fish filets so they get crispy and it’s nice to not wait on the regular oven to reheat!
Cheers!
xoxo – Hannah
Equipment
- Dutch oven
- Deep fry/Candy Thermometer
- Slotted spoon
- Baking sheets
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour (plus some for first dredging)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp garlic salt
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 egg
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup beer
- 1 quart vegetable oil
- 1½ lbs cod fillets
Instructions
- Stir all dry ingredients together
- Mix in egg, milk, and beer until smooth
- Let mixture stand for 20 minutes
- Heat 1 quart vegetable oil to 400°F using thermometer (adjust amount of oil if needed to reach a depth where fish will be completely submerged in oil)
- Dregde fish filets in plain flour, one at a time, then in batter
- Place fish in oil and fry until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes
- Place fried fish on paper towel lined baking sheet to drain excess oil
Leave a Reply