Delicious Beer Battered Fish and Chips Sandwich served on a Brioche Bun with Pickled Red Onions and Homemade Tartar Sauce.

I’m excited to share this recipe with you because it’s so easy and gratifying. This post includes recipes for Beer Battered Fish, Fried Potato Wedges (chips), Pickled Red Onions, and Tartar Sauce. All the recipes are very simple and require minimal ingredients. Save some time by doing the onions and tarter sauce a day ahead. That gives them some time to get extra tasty anyway.

Deep frying foods can be a little intimidating. You’ve got a whole vessel full of bubbling hot oil that could do some serious damage. Tip: Use a large heavy cast iron pot or dutch oven for your deep frying. The heavier the vessel is the more stable it will be. They don’t have any sticky outtie handles either for you to nudge while dancing in the kitchen. You should also avoid filling your pot more than halfway with oil. There could be some bubbling depending on what you’re frying and how hot your oil is. You don’t want any hot oil bubbling over the sides. Plus, I saw this guy on youtube using tongs to grab something out of the oil and because his oil was nearly to the top of the pot he deep fried his finger.

Here’s another tip – get yourself a deep fry / candy thermometer. This one’s under ten bucks. The temperature of your oil could fluctuate greatly as you add cold foods to it. You want to maintain a constant temp for a light and crisp fry. If you’ve tried deep frying before and you ended up with soggy food, it’s probably because your oil wasn’t a consistent temp. The single greatest advantage of a dedicated deep fryer appliance is you don’t have to worry about the temperature. If you’re going to do a lot of deep frying at home you should just get a deep fryer. Personally, I do’t do enough of it to take up the extra space in my tiny kitchen. But, if you buy one, I’ll come over and use yours 😉

Anyway, let’s get back to what’s really important – this delicious Beer Battered Fried Fish Sandwich. You’d typically get Fish and Chips at an American pub served as half a cod fillet over some French fries with some malt vinegar on the side, maybe with some tartar sauce. My favorite bar in Philly is serving this right now which was my inspiration for this recipe. Funny thing though. I met this guy Kevin who wanted to take his to go and I suggested he make a sandwich with it. What you see here is essentially what he walk away with.

I like malt vinegar but I don’t love it. What I do love is pickled red onions. I use them on everything; nachos, steak, chicken, wraps, eggs, cream cheese bagels, salads, hummus, etc. If nothing else, I want you to make the pickled onions. Quickly simmer a mixture of white vinegar, water, salt, sugar, and black peppercorns then toss in some thinly sliced red onions to blanch for a minute then turn off the heat. Store them in a glass container in the fridge up to two months (if they last that long). Instead of malt vinegar, use the pickled onion vinegar. It’s way better.

Tartar sauce is weird. It’s not really a condiment you’d use for anything other than fish. So why bother buying it when it’s so easy to make at home? I’ve included a tartar sauce recipe which is comprised of store bought mayonnaise, finely diced dill pickles, pickle juice, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. I like having the control over how bitter or sweet this turns out (more on the sweet side).

This combination of the Beer Battered Fried Fish, the Pickled Red Onions, and the Tartar Sauce on a brioche bun with some bib lettuce is… I’m sorry but it’s perfect. This sandwich put me in my happy place. So go make one for yourself!! #EatUp

Beer Battered Fish and Chips

Anthony

This recipe for Beer Battered Fish and Chips should make enough for 4 Fish Sandwiches. Recipes for Tartar Sauce and Pickled Onions included.

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Course Dinner

Servings 4 Servings

Ingredients

  

Beer Battered Fish

• 1 lb. Cod
• 2 tsp salt divided
• 1 1/2 cup flour divided
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp pepper
• 12 oz. beer

Tartar Sauce

• 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup finely diced pickles
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 2 tbs pickle juice

Pickled Onions

• 1 cup Red Onion Sliced
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• black pepper corns

Chips

• 2-3 Russet potatoes
• salt
• 3 cups frying oil

Sandwich

• 4 Brioche Hamburger buns
• Bib Lettuce
• Lemon Wedges
• Pickled Onions
• Tartar Sauce

Instructions

 

Pickled Onions

• Finely slice a cup or more of red onion.
• Add vinegar, water, salt, sugar, and pepper corns to a small pot and bring to a simmer. Stir until salt and sugar have dissolved. Add onions and blanche for one minute. Turn off heat and leave onions in pot for 10 minutes. 
• Transfer pickled onions to a glass container and place in refrigerator to cool. 
• Keeps for 2 months.

Tartar Sauce

• Finely dice 2 small dill pickles. Add to a small mixing bowl with mayonnaise, lemon juice, pickle juice, salt, sugar. Mix well and adjust to your Tate. Place in refrigerator to chill.

Double Fried Chips

• Bring a large pot of frying oil up to temperature - 300°F. Line a cooling rack with several layers of paper towels. Preheat Oven to 200°F.
• Cut 2-3 large Russet Potatoes in to long wedges, about 8 per potato. 
• Fry potatoes for about 5 minutes in batches and set on paper towel to drain. 
• Adjust heat and increase oil temp to 375F. Fry for 2-3 minutes until golden brown and transfer to paper towel to drain. Immediately sprinkle with sea salt.
• Keep potatoes warm in 200°F oven.

Beer Battered Fish

• Place cod on a paper towel lined plate and lightly sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sea salt. Transfer to refrigerator for 30 minutes. 
• Bring a large pot of frying oil up to temperature - 365°F. Line a cooling rack with several layers of paper towels. Preheat Oven to 200°F.
• In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, and pepper. Slowly whisk in 12 ounces of cold beer until a batter develops and most of the lumps are gone. In a separate dredging plate, combine 1/2 cup flour and 1 teaspoon salt.
• Remove fish from refrigerator and pat dry with paper towel. Work with one piece of fish at a time and keep cooked fish warm in the oven. Dredge in flour and shake well to remove excess. Use tongs to transfer fish to batter and dredge to coat well. Allow excess to drip in to bowl before slowly lowering one inch of the fish in to the frying oil. Allow to fry for 5 seconds then carefully lower the fish away from you. Fry for 2 1/2 minutes per side for a medium thickness piece of fish. 
• Transfer fish to paper towel and keep warm in oven which remaining fish is fried.
• Serve Beer Battered Fish on Brioche Buns topped with Bib Lettuce, Pickled Onions, Tartar sauce and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Notes

Cooking time greatly depends on how much your making and how large your frying vessel is. I highly recommend using a frying thermometer to maintain consistent frying temperatures. This cuts down on time and ensures a light and crispy product.

Instead of Malt Vinegar, use the vinegar from the Pickle Onions.