Description
A classic Crispy Beer Battered Fish recipe featuring tender white fish fillets coated in a light, crunchy beer batter and fried to golden perfection. Served with tartare sauce, lemon wedges, and your choice of homemade crispy French fries or baked potato wedges.
Ingredients
Scale
Fish
- 700 g white fish fillets (flathead, snapper, whiting, cod, tilapia; skinless, boneless)
Dusting
- ¼ cup rice flour
Crispy Fish Batter
- ¾ cup plain/all purpose flour
- ¼ cup rice flour
- 1¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup very cold beer (lager or pale ale preferred; avoid dark beers)
Cooking
- 4–5 cups peanut oil (or vegetable, canola, or cottonseed oil)
Serving
- Tartare sauce
- Lemon wedges
- Homemade crispy French fries
- Baked potato wedges
Instructions
- Dry & Cut Fish: Pat the fish fillets dry using paper towels. Cut into 7 x 3 cm batons or larger fillets if preferred. For very thick fillets, cut horizontally in half to ensure even cooking.
- Dusting Bowl: Place ¼ cup rice flour in a shallow bowl for coating the fish pieces.
- Heat Oil: Pour 6 cm of oil into a heavy-based pot and heat over medium-high heat to 190°C (375°F).
- Salt & Dust: Sprinkle a pinch of salt over 3-4 pieces of fish, then coat them in rice flour. Shake off any excess. You can let these rest for up to 10 minutes while the oil heats.
- Prepare Cold Batter: Just before frying, whisk together plain flour, rice flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add very cold beer, whisking gently until just combined. Batter should be fairly thin and slightly lumpy; avoid over-mixing.
- Dredge Fish in Batter: Dip each fish piece into the batter, allowing excess to drip off briefly.
- Fry Fish: Carefully lower fish pieces into the hot oil one at a time without crowding. Fry for 3 minutes, flipping after about 2 minutes, until batter is deep golden and crispy.
- Drain & Repeat: Remove fish with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining pieces.
- Serve: Serve the crispy fish immediately with tartare sauce, lemon wedges, and a side of crispy French fries or baked potato wedges. Fish remains crisp for 15–20 minutes.
Notes
- Keep the batter cold by refrigerating between batches to maintain crispiness.
- The batter recipe makes enough for approximately 1 kg of fish; less batter makes coating difficult.
- Use white fish fillets suitable for frying like hoki, snapper, barramundi or cod; avoid oily or thin delicate fish.
- Rice flour is essential for extra crispiness; substitute with cornflour or potato starch if needed.
- Use ice-cold beer (lager or pale ale) to activate the baking powder and create a light batter; avoid dark beers.
- For large batches, use a double-fry technique to keep fish crisp and golden without greasiness.
- Oil can be reused up to three times after straining to maintain quality.
- Fried fish is best served fresh; reheating leads to sogginess and is not recommended.
- Nutrition estimates include a conservative allowance for oil absorption, actual calories may be lower.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving (175 g fish + batter approx.)
- Calories: 420 kcal
- Sugar: 1 g
- Sodium: 420 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 16 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 35 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 28 g
- Cholesterol: 65 mg
