Beer Battered Barramundi and Chips

Introduction: We are getting used to using an electric deep fryer in our house and I thought I'd give it a go to see if I could beer batter some barramundi and make some potato chips from scratch. My father and I have made oven-fried, crumbed fish before but this was taking things to a new level. We were looking for a recipe on community sites that gave us some idea of timings for deep frying in an electric deep fryer and these recipes turned out very well indeed.

These recipes will comfortably serve a family of four, particularly given that I served this with a salad of beetroot leaves and tomatoes from the family garden.

The Barramundi:

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cups plain flour (I used spelt four)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 375mL beer bottle, chilled
• 700g barramundi fillets, cut into 2cm wide strips
• About 1.25L Rice bran oil, for deep frying

Method:

• Whisk flour and baking powder in a bowl. Add the beer and stir just until a batter forms, do not over mix. Cover and chill until required.
  
• Heat enough oil in a large saucepan to come two-thirds up the sides over medium heat until hot (180C) or similarly fill and electric deep fryer and set to 180C. Pat fish fillets dry with paper towel. Dip into the batter, draining excess batter.  Gently place into the hot oil and fry for 5-6 min, or until batter is golden and fish is cooked through. Drain on a wire rack, with paper towel underneath, and season with salt.

The Chips:

Ingredients: 

• about 800g potatoes 
• oil in fryer or pan from cooking fish

Method:

• Cut the potatoes into 1cm slices then slice these into 1cm-wide chips. Place the chips into a colander and rinse under cold running water.
• Place the washed and dried chips into a pan of cold water, bring to a gentle boil and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Drain through a colander.
• Then dry thoroughly with a tea cloth or kitchen paper.
• Heat the oil to 160 C in a deep-fat fryer or large, deep saucepan. Blanch the chips a few handfuls at a time in the fat for a couple of minutes. Do not brown them.
• Once they seem drier and slightly cooked remove from the fat and drain on kitchen paper.
• Keep covered and at room temperature until needed. Reheat the fat to 190 C and cook the chips until golden and crisp about 5 to 8 minutes.

New Methods Learnt:

• Battering fish
• Electric deep frying
• Blanching vegetable

Result:

I was really pleased with how this turned out. The batter was light and golden and the fish well cooked and juicy. The chips were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside (although I would have preferred more softness on the inside, though my family loved them the way they were).