I've recently reworked this recipe for a guest blogpost I wrote for
The World of Beer blog. This is one of my all-time favourite recipes, and I do hope you give it a try.
I often use beer to make batter for fritters and other deep-fried delectables because it produces such a beautifully light and brittle
result. The actual science behind the beer-effect has always been a mystery to
me, but recently I came across an article in
Scientific American that neatly explains just why beer makes such
excellent batters. In
Beer Batter is Better, W. Wayt Gibbs and Nathan Myhrvold write: “Beer makes such a great base for batter because it simultaneously adds three
ingredients—carbon dioxide, foaming agents and alcohol—each of which brings to
bear different aspects of physics and chemistry to make the crust light and
crisp.”
One of the most important points they make in the article is
that because alcohol evaporates so fast, a batter made with beer needs less cooking time and dries out more quickly than one made with water or milk.
When it comes to frying delicate fish in batter, this speedy
cooking time plus the insulating effects of the foamy batter both play a
crucial role in preventing the fish from drying out in the fierce heat of the
oil.
It took me many attempts to come up with the right formula
for a super-crisp fish batter, and eventually I abandoned wheat flour and
cornflour altogether. In this recipe, I’ve used a mixture of chickpea flour and
rice flour to give the spiced batter a fine texture and a lovely, lacy
crispness. As the nuggets hit the hot oil, the batter puffs up into a crunchy
golden cage, while the encased cubes of fresh linefish are quickly cooked by
the action of steam.
I have called these nuggets 'Cape-style' because the fish
comes from my local harbour in Hout Bay, and because the batter contains
some of the key spices and flavourings of
Cape Malay
cuisine.
Served with a
cool avocado
and coriander dip, or a zingy yoghurt raita, or a fresh mint chutney,
this is a delicious snack for a festive occasion, and I promise your guests
will fall on the nuggets like starving puppies. Do use very fresh, firm-fleshed
fish, from which you have removed all the bones, and not frozen fish, which
will turn to mush.
I find it easiest to deep-fry food in a small, deep saucepan over a gas flame.
You can use a pan over an electric plate, or a domestic deep-fat fryer, but a
naked flame is better because it allows you to regulate the heat with ease. For
perfect results, I can recommend using a thermometer to keep the oil at a
constant temperature of between 160°C and 170°C. If you don't have such a
gadget, use Jamie Oliver’s method: put a little piece of raw potato in the oil
while it’s still cold. When the potato floats to the surface and is a rich
golden brown, the oil is hot enough.
Rice flour and chickpea (channa or gram) flour are both
available from health shops, Indian spice shops and some supermarkets.
Cape-Style Spicy
Beer-Battered Fish Bites
For the fish:
1 kg fresh, firm-fleshed white fish fillets, deboned and skinned
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
2 tsp (10 ml) lemon juice
salt and milled black pepper
a little rice flour
oil for deep-frying
For the batter:
¾ cup (180 ml) rice flour
¾ cup (180 ml) chickpea [channa] flour
2 tsp (10 ml) cumin
2 tsp (10 ml) powdered coriander
1 tsp (5 ml) turmeric
1 tsp (5 ml) red chilli powder (or more, to taste)
1 ½ tsp (7.5 ml) salt
milled black pepper
1 x 330 ml can of ice-cold lager
To serve:
lemon wedges
flaky sea salt
a dip of your choice
First make the batter. Sift the rice flour and chickpea flour into a mixing
bowl and add the spices, salt and pepper. Gently pour the beer over the dry
ingredients and whisk lightly until you have a smooth, slightly puffy batter
about the thickness of cream. Don’t
over-mix the batter. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Cut the fish into 2-cm square cubes. Put the cubes in a bowl and add the
garlic, ginger and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and toss well to
combine. Set aside for five minutes.
Warm a platter in the oven. Heat the oil in a small, deep saucepan, until it
reaches 160°C. Put a little rice flour on a plate. Roll each fish cube in rice
flour, dust well to remove the excess and, using a fork or a pair of tongs, dip
the fish into the batter so that it is well coated. Gently lower the nuggets
into the oil (five at a time is about right) and cook for a minute and a half
to two minutes, or until puffy, crisp and golden. Fish the nuggets out of the
oil in the order in which you put them in, using a slotted spoon, and drain
well on kitchen paper. Place them in the warm oven while you fry the rest.
Serve piping hot with lemon wedges and a dip.
Serves 6-8 as a snack.
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