I did not make fries (chips), just fish. But I did batter fresh onion rings in this batter and they were fantastic!
This recipe serves 8.
Ingredients:
- Ice Water - 1 Cup
- Drew's Roasted Garlic & Peppercorn Salad Dressing (or any thick dressing)- 1 Tablespoon
- Hard Cider or Gluten Free Beer (or any fizzy beverage) - A Splash
- Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Cup for Cup Flour - 1 Cup
- Cod - 8 pieces of cod (about 1" thick and 3" x 5" in size - like a serving size)
- Corn Flour (1 cup)
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions:
Put a mixing bowl in the freezer. Then gather all your ingredients.
Pour 1 cup of ice water into the mixing bowl you stored in the freezer earlier. Add the Salad Dressing, Hard Cider, and Flour. Mix batter with a wisk, leaving it lumpy. Do not over mix. Set in the fridge or freezer for 30 minutes.
Get a deep heavy frying pan or dutch oven and fill it with enough of your favorite frying oil to completely cover the fish when it's dropped in for frying. I prefer refined coconut oil. It handles the high cooking temperature just fine and can be reused for fish again if you refrigerate it. It does not smell or taste like coconut by the way (because it's refined).
Heat oil to 360 degrees. I used a candy thermometer clipped to the side of my dutch oven. While the oil is heating, gather a draining rack and oven pan to set the fish on after it's cooked. Also heat your oven to "warm" or 170-200 degrees. You can store the fish in the oven to keep it warm as you're cooking it in batches.
Cut Cod fillets into strips that are about 1" thick and about 3" long. I usually cut one cod filet into 4 pieces.
Pat the fish dry with a paper towel.
Set aside.
Pour some corn flour into a shallow dish, adding salt and pepper to taste. This will be used for dredging your fish.
Once your oil is close to 360 degrees, get your dredging station ready. Left to Right: Fish filets on the left, then your corn flour fixture, then your batter.
Place each piece of fish in the corn flour, coating it LIGHTLY. Just a tiny dusting of flour is needed to help the batter stick better. Then immediately remove the fish from the flour and dunk it into the batter. You can put 4-8 pieces in the batter at once. Then, using tongs, gently place battered fish into the 360 degree oil, one piece at a time (cooking 4-8 pieces at once). Set timer for 1.5 minutes. Then flip fish over and cook the other side for another 1.5 minutes. Fish should be light golden brown. Remove fish from pan and place on cooling rack, immediately sprinkling with salt. Place in warm oven. Dredge, batter, and fry the rest of the fish in similar batches. Serve immediately for best texture.
I usually slice an onion thick, then dredge the pieces in the remaining flour and batter, cooking it in the oil just like the fish. It's a great way to use up the last of the batter and home cooked onion rings are the best!
I hope you enjoy this fish as much as I do. If you like saltier fish, season the raw fish filets before you dredge and batter them. But I like the crunch salty crusty with a mild unsalted fish (well it's lightly salted from the corn flour dredge).
Note: The batter stores well overnight if you want to make it again the next day to use up any extra batter.
