BEER BATTER FISH RECIPE RECIPES

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
2. Peel and slice the potatoes into chips.
3. To make the mushy peas, pick and finely chop the mint leaves. Place the butter in a pan over a medium-low heat, add the peas and mint, pop the lid on and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
4. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and season to taste with sea salt and black pepper – you can either mush the peas up in a food processor, or mash them by hand until stodgy, thick and perfect for dipping your fish into. Keep them warm until needed.
5. Pour the sunflower oil into a deep fat fryer or a large sturdy pan and heat it to 190°C/375°F.
6. Mix ½ a teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper together, then use it to season the fish fillets on both sides – this will help to remove any excess water, making the fish really meaty.
7. Whisk the flour, beer and baking powder together until nice and shiny – the texture should be like semi-whipped double cream (i.e. it should stick to whatever you're coating).
8. Dust each fish fillet in a little of the extra flour, then dip into the batter and allow any excess to drip off. Holding one end, gently lower the fish into the oil one by one, working carefully so you don't get splashed – it will depend on the size of your fryer or pan how many fish you can cook at once.
9. Cook for 4 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and the batter is golden and crisp, then remove to kitchen paper to drain.
10. Meanwhile, parboil the chips in boiling salted water for 4 to 5 minutes, or until softened but still retaining their shape, then drain and steam dry.
11. When the chips are nice and dry, fry in the oil that the fish were cooked in at 180°C/350°F until golden and crisp.
12. While the chips are frying, transfer the fish from the kitchen paper to a baking tray. Place in the oven for a few minutes to finish cooking – this way they will stay crisp while you finish off the chips.
13. When the chips are done, drain them on kitchen paper, season with salt, and serve with the fish and mushy peas. Other things to have on the table are some crunchy sweet pickled gherkins, some pickled onions (if your other half isn't around!) – and pickled chillies are good, too. Then you want to douse it all with some cheap malt vinegar and nothing other than Heinz tomato ketchup.

For the chips

1. Peel the potatoes and cut into thick chips. Soak in cold water for 30 minutes.* Drain and transfer to a pot with two litres of fresh cold water and add the white vinegar. Bring to a low simmer, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain the chips and arrange on a baking tray. Dry the chips in a low oven (about 60C, fan-forced) for 30 minutes.

2. For the beer batter, combine 1 1/2 cups of flour with the beer and stir to combine to a thick batter. Don't mix the batter too much. A few lumps is fine. Rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

3. Heat the oil to 200C and fry the chips in batches for three minutes each, allowing the oil to return to temperature between batches. Drain the chips on a wire rack or absorbent paper, uncovered for 20 minutes. You can freeze the chips at this point for frying later.

4. When ready to serve, fry the chips again at 200C for a further three minutes until golden brown. Toss the chips with plenty of salt and keep warm in the oven while you cook the fish.

* Soaking removes excess starch and stops the potato straws from sticking together and becoming gluggy when they are cooked.

For the fish

5. Reduce the heat of the oil to 180C. Dust the flathead fillets lightly with the reserved flour and dip into the batter. Shake off any excess batter and fry the fish for about four minutes until the batter is golden. Drain on a wire rack and season with salt.

6. Serve the fish and chips with wedges of lemon, tartare sauce and an undressed crisp green salad.