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Our English-Style Fish and Chips have moist and tender, flaky fish with a super light and crispy coating and crispy fried potatoes served alongside.
Living in coastal New England, we are very fortunate to have access to fresh fish such as cod and haddock all year round! And – one of my all-time favorites is this fantastic recipe for English-Style Fish and Chips!
My husband Jack served a LOT of fish to his customers during his food service career, and it was a regular on the menu most Fridays – but especially during Lent. While a more traditional New England recipe for fish and chips would include fish coated in a flour and bread crumb batter – Jack has also perfected (in my humble opinion) the perfect English-Style Fish and Chips batter that we’re sharing with you today!
How do you create a light and crispy coating for fried fish?
The batter in this English-Style Fish is super light and crispy thanks to a combination of beer and seltzer and a splash of pickle juice (we used the juice from our pickled red onions) also gives it a great, bright flavor! At the risk of offending any true Anglophiles among our readers – we prefer using a lighter beer in this batter (giving it a lighter flavor and color) rather than the more traditional English beer batter using a dark ale. The choice is yours!
We also like our ‘chips’ served as thick fries – but really, you can prepare the potatoes any way you like (wedges or thinner fries).
To serve, load up the fish and chips into a cone made by rolling a piece of brown butcher’s paper (or newspaper to be authentic – but you do run the risk of getting printers ink on your food). Serve with malt vinegar for a traditional British condiment, or tartar sauce and ketchup for a more Americanized version. Cheers!
You may like these other fried foods:
- Fish Tacos
- Tempura Fish Nuggets
- Buttermilk Fried Chicken
- Sausage Gravy Over Chicken Fried Steak
- Fried Green Tomatoes
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
English-Style Fish and Chips
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds fresh cod (thick filets, also called Captain’s Cut, which are closer to the head), however the tail end can be used if that is the only fish available. Haddock is also an alternative to cod.
- 2 cups flour, divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons malt vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ¼ cup beer (we like a lighter color beer such as Corona, but a dark ale is more traditional)
- 2 tablespoons sweet pickle juice (We used juice from our pickled red onions)
- 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups unsweetened lemon/lime seltzer (this is seltzer water flavored with lemon and lime, not diet lemon lime soda)
- 2 russet potatoes, skin on and sliced into thick fries or wedges
- Canola oil for frying
Instructions
- Cut the cod into strips about 8-10 inches long and about 2 inches around. We bought one large 1 ½ pound filet and cut eight equal pieces. (We cut the filet in half so we had two equal pieces and then cut four strips from each piece). Roll the cod strips in a half cup of flour in a medium bowl. Shake off excess and set aside.
- In a medium to large bowl, place the remaining 1 ½ cups of flour, baking soda, salt, pepper, vinegar,
- Add the honey, beer, and pickle juice. Beat with a whisk as you pour in the lemon lime seltzer until the batter is the consistency of a light pancake batter. Set aside.
- Roll the cut potatoes on paper towels until dry.
- Heat oven to 250 degrees.
- In a cast iron skillet, fill ¾ full with Canola oil. (Whatever is not used can be strained later and reused for another recipe).
- Heat the oil to 325 degrees using a candy thermometer to check the temperature of the oil. Cook the fries in two batches just until cooked but not browned, about four minutes per batch. Set aside on a plate, they will be crisped later.
- Bring the oil to 350 degrees.
- Dip the floured cod into the batter and with tongs, let drip slightly, then lay the battered fish into the hot oil gently. The fish will rise after a few seconds so don’t drop the whole piece in, just hold half in while the submerged half rises, then let the other half gently slip into the oil. Cook on one side and then flip using tongs or spider; about four to five minutes total. Cook in batches so the temperature of the oil does not drop too far. As each batch cooks, place on a sheet pan and hold in the oven.
- Once the last piece is cooked and the temperature of the oil is back up to 350 degree, drop in half the fries and cook until crisp. Place on the pan with fish and salt as they come out of the oil. Cook the second batch of fries and place with the rest on the pan.
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How can you say you have developed the perfect (in your humble opinion) English-Style Fish and Chips batter? First, we do not batter our chips. Second, you have added so many other ingredients that the essence of the original fish batter is lost in the final product. Honey, juice from red pickled onions., etc. No way. That is a travesty. Remember KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid. In all of my years of professional cooking, yes I was a chef, I have never come across such recipe for F&C. Oh, sorry, I forgot you are from the USA where all believe they are right in all things.
‘nuf sed. plamuk aka travellingchef.
Hi Traveling Chef – We appreciate feedback from our readers about our recipes – positive or negative – but you don’t have to be so mean about it. Thank you for taking the time to share your opinions with us today.
I want to eat it not cook it
I sometimes feel that way too Lindy. 🙂 I hope someone can make this recipe for you!
First time visiting your site. Like what I read and saw. Love the British Fish and Chips.
Marlene
Thanks so much Marlene! We’re glad you found us!
That looks really delicious, great photography. To be authentic though the fish portion would need to be larger. In the UK a whole half fillet would be battered and deep fried. The chips are typically thick – yours look great, but in a fish shop may be even chunkier. Vinegar is right, but salt is the other usual finishing touch. (Ketchup, Tartare or Curry sauce are also popular). That’s left me really craving some Fish and Chips now, thanks!
Thank you so much Steve! We appreciate the info (and will definitely try it the more authentic way the next time!). Thanks for taking the time to write to us!
Wow incredible, the whole family loved this, even the kid who hates fish said this was good! Really tasty thanks for posting. I used grape vinigar instead of malt, didnt have any and skipped the pickle juice didnt have that either. Cant wait to try it without the alterations.
Thanks for taking the time to write to us Treasure! It’s always a huge “win” in my book when you can get one of the kids to try (and like) a new food!
Mouth watering! I don’t live in the northeast, but have access to good quality cod. Making this week. Thanks!
Thanks Lisa! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
In the fish and chips recipe your directions state to use the brine from sweet pickles. However, brine is technically a salt-infused liquid. I am confused about the sweet pickle/brine issue. Can you clear it up for me? My husband is from England. He’s only been here in America for 12 years but really misses his fish and chips! I would love to be able to serve him a good batch. Thanks a lot !
Hi Sharon – Thanks for your email and I’m sorry for the confusion. You are absolutely right – we should have referred to that as the pickle juice rather than a brine! I will update the recipe to avoid further confusion. If you decide to make our recipe, we hope he enjoys it!
Tried your batter but it doesn’t compare to the real English fish batter.
Thanks for your feedback Mel!
Your recipes are very good, tasty and I would never knock them.
But! Absolutely nothing even remotely English I am afraid.
Thanks for the feedback Ellen! Would you let us know what goes into your batter? We’d really love to know!
Been following your site for a while…excellent recipes and superb photography. BTW, now in Beaufort, South Carolina – moved here from North Falmouth / Cape Cod. Noticed the Parmesan Truffles and was thrilled to see that you had them at Ellas in Wareham. Some of the best food we’ve EVER eaten. Miss a lot of people in Mass., but we don’t miss Mass!! Keep up the great work.
Thank you so much Jeff! Such a small world! We totally agree – Ella’s really is fantastic! Thanks for writing to us and for following our blog! Martha