FISH & CHIPS, fancy peas and yoghurt tartar sauce
In my take on this pub classic, I keep things fairly traditional with the fish and chips themselves. I opt for a standard beer batter for the fish. For the chips, I start by blanching them first and then dry out their surfaces by placing them in the freezer before frying them.To complement these, the peas are cooked down with some leeks and finished with lemon and mint to offer something a little bit different to your typical mushy peas. Finally, the tartar sauce uses yoghurt as the base in favour of mayonnaise. This makes the sauce lighter and gives it a lovely fresh acidity that works really well to balance the heartiness of the fish.
EQUIPMENT
INGREDIENTS
For the Chips
- 600 g Potatoes
- 2 Lt Water
- 30 g Salt
- 5 g Sugar
For the peas
- 200 g Peas, fresh or frozen
- 100 g Leek, halved and sliced
- 1 clove Garlic, minced
- 15 g Mint leaves, sliced
- 30 g Butter
- 1 Lemon, Juice and zest
For the battered fish
- 2-4 fillets Sea bream, pin bones removed
- 300 g Lager, ice-cold
- 165 g All-purpose flour
- 50 g Cornflour
- 8 g Salt
- 3 g Baking soda
- 100 g All-purpose flour, for dusting
- 2 Lt Neutral oil, for frying
- 1 lemon, for serving
For the tartar Sauce
- 125 g Greek yoghurt, full-fat
- 1 Shallot, minced
- 10 g Brined capers, minced
- 25 g Cornichon, minced
- 1 tbsp Dill, minced
- 1 tbsp Parsley, minced
- 1 tbsp Mint, chopped
- Lemon zest, tp taste
METHOD
FOR THE TARTAR SAUCE
- Combine all ingredients and reserve in the fridge.
FOR THE CHIPS
- Cut the potatoes into batons roughly 1cm thick. Add these to a pot of water seasoned with salt and sugar.
- Bring the water up to a boil, return to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are just tender.
- Drain the potatoes through a colander and shake lightly to rough up the exterior of the chips.
- Place your slightly shaken potato sticks onto a tray lined with baking paper. Make sure none of them are touching and pop them into the freezer for 2 hours or until frozen.
FOR THE PEAS
- Place a small pot over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the sliced leeks to the pot and season lightly with salt.
- Cook while stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until the leeks have softened nicely.
- Add the minced garlic to the pot and continue to cook while stirring occasionally for 2 minutes.
- Bring a small pot of water up to a boil over high heat and season liberally with salt.
- Add the peas and cook for 1-3 minutes or until tender.
- Strain the peas through a sieve and optionally place into a bowl of ice and water until you are ready to finish. Alternatively, add them to your pot of cooked down leeks. Stir the ingredients to combine but leave the heat off while you cook your fish.
FOR THE FISH
- Preheat an oven to 100C and place a try inside for keeping the fish hot while you cook the chips (or vice versa).
- Place the oil into a large pot, ensuring that the oil doesn’t come up more than halfway up the pot.
- Place the pot on medium-high heat and monitor the temperature until it reaches 180℃.
- Combine the flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized bowl and whisk to combine.
- Pour in the cold lager and whisk lightly until smooth.
- Layout a plate and add your additional flour and season lightly with salt. Have a tray lined with absorbant kitchen towel set next to your pot also.
- Season the fillets of fish with salt on both sides and dust well in the flour, shaking off any excess.
- Working with one fillet at a time, from the tail end of the fish, dredge it through the beer batter, allowing any excess to drip off.
- Gently place your fish in the hot oil, swaying it into the pot away from you to avoid any unnecessary splashes. Allow to cook for 2 minutes or until browned before flipping it over to continue browning the second side for another 2 minutes.
- Once browned, les the excess oil drain off from the fish by placing it on a tray lined with absorbant paper towel. Then place into the oven until you are ready to plate.
- Remember to turn off the heat to your pot of oil once done frying. If you will be cooking more portions of fish, make sure your oil is at a steady 180℃ before you add more fish.
TO FINISH
- To fry the chips, increase the heat of the oil to 190C and remove any crispy fish batter using a sieve. Fry the chips, working in batches to avoid crowding the oil, for 3-4 minutes or until crispy.or
- In an air fryer or a conventional oven, season liberally with salt and your preferred cooking oil. Air fry for 14 minutes at 200C or bake for 20 minutes at 200C.
- While the last of the fish and chips are frying, gently warm up your peas and add a few tablespoons of butter to the pot, along with some chopped mint and a light squeeze of lemon juice.
- Once everything is cooked and warmed through, plate up and serve immediately with a dollop of tartar sauce and a cold beer.
PRO TIPS
The twice-cooked chips can be prepared in bulk and frozen, ready to be fried at a moments notice. You can also bake them at 200C, covered with plenty of oil and salt to crisp them up as an alternative to frying.
For even crispier chips: Once they're done boiling and you've drained off all of the water, place them onto a rack and allow them to release their steam and dry out. Fry at 130C for 2-3 minutes to cook the outsides of the chips and place them into the freezer. Triple cooked chips are a little bit more work but well worth it!