Fish and chips with tartare sauce
A British classic of crunchy beer-battered fish and chips, with homemade tartare sauce. Serve with lots of salt and vinegar!
Ingredients
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 200ml/7fl oz vegetable oil, plus extra for deep-frying
- squeeze lemon juice
- ½ red onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp gherkins, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp capers, roughly chopped
- small handful parsley, finely chopped
- 4–5 green olives, chopped
- 12 tbsp plain flour
- 6 tbsp cornflour
- 200ml/7fl oz ale
- pinch salt
- 8 large Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and cut into chunky chips
- 4 x 150g/5½oz cod (or haddock) fillets
Method
First make the tartare sauce. Whisk together the egg yolks, mustard and vinegar and gradually pour in the oil in a steady stream until you have a thick, creamy mayonnaise. Season to taste and add a squeeze of lemon.
Stir in the onion, gherkins, capers, parsley and olives. The sauce should be quite piquant and chunky and have the consistency of very thick double cream.
To make the batter, mix the flours together and whisk in the ale until you have a double cream consistency. Add a pinch of salt.
Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 140C (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.). Cook the chips for 8–9 minutes and set aside on kitchen paper.
Increase the heat to 190C. In batches, dip the fish fillets in the batter and drop carefully into the hot oil. Shake the basket gently so the fillets don’t stick, and cook for about 3–5 minutes. Don’t overload the basket or the oil will cool and you’ll get soggy batter. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.
Return the chips to the deep-fat fryer a further 2–3 minutes and drain on kitchen paper. Serve with the battered fish and the tartare sauce.