Gluten Free Fish And Chips (a love letter to beef dripping).
I have lived in London for 11 years and not once in those 11 years have I ever had decent fish and chips. I don’t know what they do to their fish and chips - I do, they cook them in oil, leave the skin on and buy the saddest grey-est fish they can – but I wish someone would get all ‘gourmet’ and ‘next level’ about fish and chips, like everyone is for burgers at the moment, and open some decent chip shops.
Finding out I was celiac a few years ago thankfully ended the torment of eating battered fish in London and I have just been eating chips from chip shops, sad, anaemic, under cooked greasy chips.
Making fish and chips at home can sound like an arse ache and if you leave your washing in the kitchen like I did, you can maybe think it was a terrible idea, But it isn't, you will be well chuffed with yourself and everyone will appreciate the ‘treat’.
Cooking fish and chips at home is very much cooking by instinct and eye. Be safe and confident when cooking with hot fat, do testers with a sliver of fish and a small chip and adjust the heat appropriately. Take your time, don’t rush and for the love of god do not burn down your house. Even if you bugger it up (burning the house down not withstanding), these will still be the best fish and chips you have had in London. I thoroughly recommend dribbling in bits of batter with a spoon to make scraps and having them too. (If you are from Yorkshire you will know what I am talking about.)
Cook and prep time: 1 hour, fifteen mins
Feeds: 2 (Double the recipe for 4.)
1 Flat Teaspoon of Bicarbonate of Soda*
1 Egg White, Whipped in to Firm Peaks
1 Big White Fish Fillet or 2 Small Ones – Whiting/Haddock/Pollock/Cod are all good but buy them from a fish monger not a super market if you can
2-3 Blocks of Beef Dripping – Can be found in the supermarket with the butter or a butchers. Start melting 2 blocks and see how deep it is first before adding the third block, you need to fit your fish in there so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan
*If you are a normal person you can swap the rice flour for Self-Raising Flour and lose the Bicarbonate of Soda
1. Put the kettle on and peel your potatoes, slice into finger length quarters or sixths depending on how big the spuds are, the smaller they are the quicker they will cook. Put the hot water in a pan with some salt and when it is trembling put in your potatoes to par boil for about 10-15 mins depending on the size and how vigorous your water is trembling. You want to be able to get a knife point in part way, but for the potatoes to not fall apart, if in doubt, under cook. Drain in a colander and set aside to dry out.
2. If you are making proper fish and chips you need to skin your fish. If you don’t have a big pan/being frugal/like fish and chips but find them a bit too much, then I would get 1 big fillet and cut it in two or if you want ‘goujons’ again these would cook quicker and mean you can use a smaller pan. To skin a fish put a sharp knife in to the tail end so it cuts through the flesh only, then turn the knife so it is flat and facing the other end of the fish and gently move the knife in a gentle saw action until you get the skin off, if you get stuck, flip it over and pull the rest of the skin off. If a bit of fish comes free from the fillet that is OK, this is now your tester strip of fish.
3. Cut the big fillet in 2 pieces that will fit in the pan you have decided to use for frying (you want a heavy bottom pan with high sides). Put the fish on a plate with lots of kitchen roll and get the fillets dry, keep pressing down until you have got as much moisture out as possible. On a plate sprinkle some flour and season with salt and pepper and dust the fish in flour. Put your high sided pan on a low heat and dump in the blocks of dripping to melt, you need enough fat so your fish won’t stick to the bottom. Add from the third block of dripping if you need to, have more rather than less, but only if you have a high sided pan. To be on the safe side never have a pan more than 1/2 way and if you can (with a high sided pan) have it only 1/3 full of fat.
4. Turn your oven on to 100C and turn the heat on the dripping pan to medium, the fat is ready when you see a shimmer on the surface. Chuff up your chips in a colander and then pop one in the fat as a tester. When frying we are looking for a gentle yellow colour and the chips are ready when there are fewer bubbles in the pan next to the item you are frying. Gently lower 2 slotted spoonful’s of chips to the fat at a time. If you don’t have asbestos hands please be careful. When the chips are a light yellow and the bubbles have calmed down scoop them out and put them in a pyrex dish with some more kitchen roll. When you have done all the chips, turn the pan up to med/high and then repeat the process until your chips are golden. If the fat makes you nervous then put in less chips at a time. When they are all done, bung them in the oven to keep warm. Turn the heat down if you are going to make the batter now, OR get someone to make the batter while you do the chips…
5. BATTER. Gluten free batter must not be left to sit like normal batter, you want to make it and use it straight away. In a big bowl add your flour, bicarb and salt. Separate your egg and in a separate clean bowl whisk your egg white until it has firm peaks (or near as damn it). Add the water to the flour and whisk lazily, don’t listen to Delia, fish batter should have lumps in it. Add the egg white and fold that in with a spatula. You are looking for the consistency of single cream; if it is a bit too thick add a drop and only a drop of cold water. Turn the heat to medium/high on your dripping pan and let the fat heat for a few minutes.
6. For some reason rice flour separates in liquid so take your flour dusted fillet (this helps the batter stick to the fish) and drag it through the batter, makes sure it is covered and really rub it in there. If you have a scrap of fish from when you skinned the fillet use this as a tester, fry it, let it cool and eat it to check the temperature is right. Carefully and gently lay the fillet in the pan away from you, if you are nervous use tongs. The bubbles will go mental and the batter should bubble up, when it calms down a little turn it over with some metal tongs and watch it, do not leave the pan. When the fish is floating, golden and the bubbles have died down, take it out and rest it on a baking tray over a roasting dish and pop it in the oven. Do the second fillet the same way.
7. Get your fish on to some warm plates with your chips and serve with peas, bread and butter and a can of pop. Proper chippy tea.
