Description
This Crispy Beer Battered Fish recipe delivers golden, crunchy fried fish with a light, airy batter made from cold beer and rice flour to ensure a crisp coating. Perfectly paired with tartare sauce, lemon wedges, and crispy fries or baked potato wedges for a classic and satisfying meal.
Ingredients
Scale
Fish
- 700 g white fish fillets (skinless, boneless, such as flathead, snapper, whiting, cod, tilapia)
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 (pale ale or lager, chilled for 2+ hours)
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 dry with paper towels or a tea towel. Cut into 7 x 3 cm batons or larger fillets as preferred. For thick fillets over 3 cm, slice horizontally to ensure even cooking.
- Dusting bowl: Place ¼ cup rice flour into a shallow bowl for dusting the fish pieces before battering.
- Heat oil: Pour 6 cm depth of oil into a large heavy-based pot and heat over medium-high heat to 190°C (375°F).
- Salt & dust fish: Sprinkle 3–4 pieces of fish with a pinch of salt and coat them evenly with rice flour. Shake off excess flour. You may leave the dusted fish for up to 10 minutes if needed.
- Prepare cold batter: Just before frying, whisk together plain flour, rice flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add very cold beer, whisking until incorporated but still lumpy. The batter should be thin enough to coat the back of a spoon; add beer teaspoon by teaspoon if too thick.
- Dredge fish in batter: Dip each piece of fish into the batter, allowing excess to drip off briefly before frying.
- Fry fish: Carefully lower fish pieces into hot oil without crowding the pot. Fry in batches for 3 minutes total, turning after about 2 minutes, until golden and crispy.
- Drain: Remove cooked fish with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining fish.
- Serve immediately: Enjoy hot with tartare sauce, lemon wedges, salad dressed with vinaigrette, and crispy fries or baked wedges on the side.
Notes
- Keep the batter cold between batches, refrigerating if necessary, to maintain light crispiness.
- Rice flour is essential for crispiness and to prevent sogginess; can substitute cornflour or potato starch if unavailable.
- Use pale ale or lager for beer; avoid dark beers like stout or porter as they affect color and flavor.
- Non-alcoholic substitute: Use very cold soda water plus ¼ tsp extra baking powder.
- Do not over-mix the batter; light mixing preserves a delicate, airy texture.
- For large batches, consider double frying to ensure extra crispiness and reheating: fry first for 2½ minutes until golden, then again at 200°C (390°F) for 1 minute.
- Oil can be reused up to three times for savory frying after straining and cooling.
- Fish varieties suitable include hoki, whiting, barramundi, hake, haddock, and ling; avoid oily or very delicate fish.
- Fried fish is best eaten immediately; reheating will cause sogginess.
- This recipe generously accounts for oil absorption, but actual intake may be lower.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 480 kcal
- Sugar: 1 g
- Sodium: 400 mg
- Fat: 25 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 18 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 38 g
- Fiber: 1.5 g
- Protein: 30 g
- Cholesterol: 70 mg
