I love eating fish and chips, but I’ve never done them myself. The idea of frying anything puts me right off as I foresee grease everywhere and cleaning oil off the stove, kitchen walls and counter tops is hardly my idea of fun. So frying is definitely outside of my comfort zone and lo and behold, I was given a recipe by Sefie that was well and truly outside of my comfort zone.
No matter, I was game to try it out anyways and brave my fears of frying.
I don’t really have a recipe for the fish as I went with my instincts and kinda copied what the Masterchef boys were doing when they were doing Fish and Chips.
I sliced up a few pieces of Flake, making sure there were no bones in them and reserving the bones and the smaller pieces of fish for Teochew fish porridge later on. Beat up an egg and then rolled the fish in them before covering the pieces of flake with Panko breadcrumbs for that extra crunch. I personally would have loved grilled fish but the housemate cannot eat any meat that bears any semblance to meat so I had to cover it up in some manner. (Yes, the housemate is weird.)
The chips were not done in a pan of oil as I was used to. Instead I was instructed to try Oven Fried Chips
Oven Fried Chips
Ingredients
Potatoes
Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C, and put a fair amount of oil in a roasting pan. Put the oil and pan into the oven to heat up.
2. While this is happening, you need to par-boil the potatoes. Cut your potatoes into desired shapes and boil in hot water for 8-10 minutes until
they’re “not quite soft” (ie: undercooked). Drain well and blot off excess water.3. Season with salt and pepper, and VERY CAREFULLY take the pan out of the oven, add the potatoes and more oil to coat. The oil should be hot enough that the potatoes actually start to fry in the pan.
4. Put the potatoes back into the oven and bake for another 20-35 minutes until golden and crispy. Drain chips on paper towel.
And the result?
The chips were overcooked, unfortunately. I didn’t manage to get a good grasp on the timing thus resulting in a bunch of dry looking chips. They were still fluffy on the inside, but on the outside they are not much to look at. I’m not so sure I’m fond of chips done these way so I will probably go back to pan frying them the next time I do chips. At least that way I can keep an eye on them and make sure they are doing alright! I also seasoned my chips with thyme and rosemary. It makes for some incredibly tasty and fragrant chips!
The fish on the other hand came out beautifully. A beautiful crunch due to the panko bread crumbs and not crazily puffy since it wasn’t beer battered. Yum!
I’ll be the first to admit that this will probably be the last time I do fish and chips at home, unless I have friends who specifically ask for them. No, beg for them. At which I’ll probably point them to our nearest fish and chippery and make a night of it. While I am a fan of challenges, fish and chips at home just doesn’t seem to have the same rewarding sense of achievement like other dishes do. Still, it was a fun experience and I’m glad I’ve done it now for now I can safely say that the next time the Fish and Chips urge hits, I’m going straight out!
Do you cook Fish and Chips at home, or do you prefer to go out?
[New Post] July Cookoff : Recipe – Fish and Chips – via #twitoaster http://berrytravels.com/index.php/july-c…
yumm! I feel like making F+Cs again now!!
.-= Iron Chef Shellie´s last blog ..International Incident Party – Eggs =-.
Haha, so you cook them at home then? But doesn’t it grease up your entire kitchen? T___T
fush and chups :B
I hardly ever try to cook fish and chips. My chips never work; I’m impatient >>; I hate waiting for them to cook so they always end up only just cooked. Or burnt. And fish. Well I have used panko bread crumbs because they make a nommy coating/batter/whatever, but really, its just not the same as fish & chip shop fish.
Yeah, you do have to be patient for chips. Unfortunately =/
And I like beer battered fish or grilled fish. Panko gives it a good crunch. Really, I like them all XD
oh my – that fish DOES look good
Great job!
.-= Lisa (bakebikeblog)´s last blog ..A perfect end to a busy work day =-.
Aw, you are too kind. Kinda tempted to try beer batter next time, but ack, frying!
Your fish and chips look great!! Now I am craving for some….
.-= Ellie (Almost Bourdain)´s last blog ..Come Dine with Me 5 – Soba Noodle Soup with Five-Spice Duck Broad Bean- Pea & Prosciutto Pasta- Spiced Mussel Pilaf- Linguine w Red Mullet =-.
Thanks Ellie!
The fish looks great! I can’t say I’ve ever been motivated enough to make fish & chips at home… but you’ve inspired me to at least think about trying
PS: I don’t really like frying stuff at home either… just the thought of everything in my house smelling like frying oil gives me a headache
And then having to clean all the oil off….. Yikes.
The fish looks great, and despite your comments I think the chips don’t look dry at all!
I very very rarely buy fish & chips – the grease usually gives me a bad stomach ache. I cook fish a lot at home, but tend to go for a sweet potato mash with it instead of chips. Possibly cos I’m lazy, and also because I love sweet potato
.-= Conor @ HoldtheBeef´s last blog ..International Eggs Incident – Poached Eggs and Bloody Mary Breakfast =-.
Oh mash is awesome, so the sound of that is amazing already. I rarely have fish and chips as well – I tend to prefer to leave that for the visits to the beach. Because there’s nothing that beats the taste of fish and chips while you are sitting by the beach, smelling the salt water in the air and having your chips stolen by seagulls.
Great effort for DIY! I always go out for heavy deep frying dishes though cos I can’t be bothered dealing with the excess oil and don’t want our place smelling of cooking oil!
.-= Forager @ The Gourmet Forager´s last blog ..Tomislav- from lab bench to the kitchen and back =-.
I agree with you. I always feel that it’s a waste to toss excess oil but keeping it around means that it’s probably never going to get used again as well…
fish n chips reminds me of summer and the beach! haha im with u on this…i avoid frying at all cost at home. i never know what to do with the left over oil as well! your chips looks great even tho over-cooked. i love the idea of rosemary and thyme! hmmmm.
.-= Vivienne´s last blog ..Quinoa with Apple & Cinnamon =-.
Chips sprinkled generously with rosemary and thyme are amazing. So so fragrant… any sort of overcooking is instantly overlooked.