Beer Battered Fish Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

What kind of beer is best for fish batter? ›

What is the best beer for fish batter? It's best to save your craft beers for drinking, and use a simple light beer. Anything from very light (PBR) to a mild British ale (like Newcastle Brown Ale) will work well.

Beer Batter Ingredients

These are the simple ingredients you'll need to make this basic beer batter recipe: Flour: This homemade beer batter starts with all-purpose flour. Cornstarch: Cornstarch ensures an extra crispy, light fry every time. Egg: An egg creates a more delicate crust and helps seal in moisture.

Make the Batter

Dip fish pieces into the flour, turning to coat all sides, and shake off excess flour. The flour will help the batter stick to the fish. Next, dip the fish into the batter, turning to coat all sides.

Carbonated water: The air pockets from carbonated drinks is extremely important to created a really light and crispy batter. You can use club soda, sparkling water, seltzer or beer but I would stay away from anything with too many sugars. Consistency: You definitely don't want your batter to be too thick.

Some beer batter recipes will say to add ice or place the beer batter in the fridge to 'rest' for 30 minutes. Forget it! Adding ice will water down your batter and refrigerating the beer batter just takes time. Simply start with a cold beer and you'll be one step ahead.

I use Budweiser. The beer batter works because of the alcohol and the CO2 in beer. Bitter flavours aren't really welcome there. For that effect, I recommend using carbonated water with vodka.

Oil Temperature – If your oil is not hot enough, you could end up with an oversaturated coating that is soggy and unappetizing. If your oil is too hot, you'll end up burning the outside of the fish coating, not giving the fish inside enough time to get cooked and flaky.

To summarize, cornstarch cuts the protein content, which makes the crust lighter and crisper, baking powder provides leavening, generating air bubbles that also result in a lighter, crisper crust, and baking powder provides alkali, which allows the crust to turn golden brown via the Maillard reaction.

Because vodka is more volatile than water, it evaporates more quickly, which dries out the batter faster and more violently. That creates larger bubbles and even more surface area, in turn resulting in a much crispier crust.

If the fish is dropped in the fryer to fast or even just tossed in the fryer the batter will most like disperse or just a little will stick. The secret here is to put in the fish slowly while giving it a little wiggle to get access batter off. This will really give you an amazing coating on the fish!

How long should fish batter rest? ›

Combine the flour, cornflour, baking powder and turmeric in a large bowl, season, then spoon 1 tbsp onto a plate and set aside. Gradually pour the beer and water into the bowl, stirring with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth, lump-free batter. Leave to rest for 30 mins while you prepare the chips.

Fish fillets are first coated in egg, then coated with flour, then fried on a frying pan. The resulting fried fish has a delicious crispy coating on the outside and juicy succulent fish on the inside.

In sum, carbonation and pH are the biggest factors in delivering a better batter-fried crust, so feel free to use bubbly substitutes such as nonalcoholic beer or seltzer water. PICK YOUR BUBBLY: Any of these carbonated drinks will lead to a light, tender batter-fried crust.

It can even be used as a substitute for beer in beer batter recipes, if you are looking for a less boozy option. The fizziness of club soda, along with its unique flavor profile, create a light and airy batter that gets extra crispy when fried!” she says.

What can I use instead of beer in the fish batter? Instead of using beer in your fish better, you can use club soda or soda water. Club soda aerates the batter, making it light and crispy!

There is no definitive answer to this question, as different beers will impart different flavors to the batter. However, a light, mildly flavored beer is generally a good option for fish batter. If you want to avoid using beer altogether, you can substitute sparkling water or club soda.

The kind of beer you use in this batter is entirely up to your personal tastes. I usually use an amber or dark beer because I love the strong(ish) flavor that it adds to the batter. If you want a more mild flavor, use a pale lager. My two favorite beers to ue in this batter is London Fog and Newcastle Brown Ale.

First, the bubbles provide lift as they escape from the batter during frying. Second, the carbonation makes the batter slightly more acidic, which limits how much gluten can form when the beer and flour mix, preventing the batter from turning tough.

And while typical beer batters include dark heavy ales, I knew that the lightness of the Corona Extra beer would provide just the right amount of flavor without taking over the dish. And like all fish taco recipes, there needed to be a crunchy slaw on top to cut through the deep fried aspect of the dish.