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Sunday 12 July 2015

Spiced Battered Fish


This dish is primarily a result of visiting the fishmongers later in the day and the only thing available was cod and turbot. With me not being so flash with cash I chose the cod.  I was thinking about doing regular fried fish and chips but I thought, in the heat wave we have being experiencing, adding some spice would make it feel less greasy and sickly. I’m glad to say it worked and all it needs is some mushy peas and thickly buttered bread. That’s right I made a fish butty and mushy peas.

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    What you need:

    • 4 small cod fillets – get your fishmonger to fillet them for you if buying whole
    • 1 tsp cumin
    • 1 tsp coriander
    • ½ tsp turmeric
    • ½ tsp garlic powder
    • ½ tsp ground ginger
    • Fresh chilli, finely chopped
    • Fresh coriander, finely chopped
    • 1 lime
    • 100g plain flour
    • Sparkling water

    How to make it:

    1. Firstly, make sure that there are no stray bones left in your cod fillets, using a clean pair of tweezers to remove any stragglers. 
    2. Measure out all of the spices into a ramekin and sprinkle over both sides of the fillets. Squeeze over the juice of a lime. Leave these to marinade whilst making the batter. Same some spice for you batter.
    3. I chose to make a tempura style batter – mix the plain flour with salt and pepper, chopped fresh chilli coriander, a pinch of your spice mix and enough of the sparkling water to make a batter with a consistency similar to a Yorkshire pudding mix. The sparkling water will make the batter lighter but using normal water will work just fine.
    4. Fill a heavy based pan half way with vegetable oil (or use a deep fat fryer if you have one- unfortunately I don’t have the space for one currently) and put on a moderate to high heat. To check that the oil is hot enough drop a small amount of the batter in – it should immediately start intensely bubbling in the oil.
    5. Put some extra seasoned plain flour onto a plate and coat both sides of the cod fillets in the flour. This will ensure that the batter clings to the fish allowing the fish to steam within its crispy coating. Take each floured fillet and dip into the batter ensuring it is fully coated. Carefully, holding the thin end of the fillet, lower the fish into the oil and move it along the surface of the oil – this will ensure that the batter starts to cook and doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. If you are using a deep fat fryer use this same technique – DO NOT place the fish in the basket and lower it into the oil as you will end up with a battered basket and some greasy cod. I cooked the fish in two batches to ensure the temperature of the oil didn’t drop. Fry for approximately 3 minutes until the batter is golden brown. Then carefully flip the fish and again fry for roughly 3 minutes until golden. Remove from the oil allowing the oil to drain off back into the pan and place on some kitchen roll to absorb any excess oil. 
    6. Serve up with the aforementioned buttered bread and homemade mushy peas. 


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