Last Saturday my two-year-old daughter, Guenna, and I went to the store to get some donuts for the family, a Saturday morning treat. She cracks me up! We get into the car and she did not stop talking the entire time we were on our little date! Anyway, after we picked up our donuts (which she wanted to eat before we purchased), we were walking to the check out and I spotted the fish and got a crazy idea, I should make some batter fried fish. I’ve never made it before but my mom was coming over and I thought she could help me. So I bought some fish, and headed home. A little unsure that my plans would turn out, and even more unsure that my kids would like the fish.
We found a recipe for the batter and got it started when we realized that it called for 3/4 cup flat beer. Hmmm, we have some beer but it’s not flat. And we didn’t know how to flatten it quickly, anyone know the trick? So we subbed 3/4 cup milk and added 2 teaspoons of baking powder, the batter was perfect! Yeah! And the kids loved the fish, Guenna thought it was corn of all things! The boys especially loved the batter but they ate the fish as well. So it was a successful experiment. I love it when it when my experiments actually turn out :) So now I have another recipe to add to my, “the family likes this one” list!
Batter Fried Fish
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour or rice flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon melted butter or vegetable oil
2 beaten egg yolks
3/4 cup flat beer (or you can substitute with 3/4 cup milk and 2 teaspoons baking powder)
1 1/2 lbs of fish, or meat of choice
Preparation:
- Mix together dry ingredients, add wet ingredients gradually, stirring constantly.
- In order to test for the proper consistency of the batter, take a generous spoonful of batter and hold it above the mixing bowl. The batter should start to run for about a 1 1/2 inch length, then drop in successive long triangular “splats.”
- Allow the batter to rest covered and refrigerated 3 to 12 hours. Just before using, you may add: (2 stiffly beaten, but not dry, egg whites).
- If you do not have time to let the batter rest, mix it to smoothness with as few strokes as possible so as not to build up the gluten in the flour. In this case you would omit the egg whites. I didn’t add the egg whites, I let it sit for about 2 hours and left the egg whites out, the batter turned out great like I mentioned before.
- Makes enough to coat about 2 cups of meat, You can use this batter to cover just about any meat you prefer. Just make sure the meat is cut in small enough cubes to ensure the meat will cook through, about 1 inch cubes.
- Heat fat (I used olive oil) to 375 degrees F in a frying pan or deep fat fryer.
- Make sure your meat is really dry, dip in batter, cover completely.
- Cook on both sides until golden brown, should take a couple minutes on either side. If your batter browns too quickly you need to turn the heat down so that the meat will cook thoroughly. Test one to make sure the meat is done.
Serve with a side of steamed vegetables or a nice green salad. And don’t forget the tartar sauce!
Simple Tartar Sauce
1 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 or 3 pickles, finely chopped (use less or more based on preference)
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix ingredients together and enjoy!
What to do with the left over batter:
We fried some zucchini with the extra batter and it turned out delicious! The kids really liked it too. I just sliced it up and patted it dry right before I dipped it in the batter, as the cut zucchini excretes moisture that repels the batter from sticking and it needs to be as dry as possible.
Cait had some other ideas about what to do with the left over batter. First she was dipping it in the uncooked batter and taking bites of the zucchini, then she decided it would be easier if she just dipped the spatula in the batter and licked it off!
