Fish and Chips

Fish and chips is the iconic dish of British cooking: crisp fish fried in a beer batter, with thick chips alongside.

For the side

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into finger-thick chips. Heat the oil in a deep pot to medium-hot (about 150 °C) and pre-fry the chips until they soften but do not yet colour. Take them out and drain them.

For the fish

2. Pat the white-fleshed fish dry, cut it into portions, then season it with salt and pepper.

For the batter

3. Mix the flour with a pinch of salt, and gradually pour in the cold beer, until you get a thick pancake-batter, lump-free coating.

4. Heat the oil to 180 °C. Dip the fish slices in the batter, let the excess drip off, then fry them golden and crisp in the hot oil. Lift them onto paper towel.

5. Now put the chips back into the oil at a higher temperature (about 190 °C) and fry them crisp and golden.

6. Serve the fish and chips immediately, fresh, with lemon wedges.

Tip: The ice-cold beer is the secret of the feather-light, crisp batter – the cold batter puffs up instantly in the hot oil.