Seafood Made Simple: Vodka is my key ingredient in this deep-fried haddock recipe

This recipe is great for pretty much any fish you’d like to batter, and works particularly well with shelled langoustines, producing a crisp and sweet scampi. Pic: Chani Anderson

To achieve the perfect piece of battered fish there are many factors to consider. 

The fish itself, flat or round; skin on or off; whole fillets or more slender sized fingers; the flour and the liquid used in the batter.

I’ve tried several combinations and ratios over the years to attain the best results, and this weekend I’m sharing my ultimate batter for fish. 

Borrowing from the fried foods I adore from Asia, I like to use a mixture of flours and starches to produce a crisp and dry batter. 

The addition of beer is non-negotiable for me – why use water when you can use something which adds flavour.

The addition of vodka is key. Alcohol is more volatile than water, meaning it has a lower boiling point, so it cooks faster producing a fully cooked coating without doughy pockets of undercooked batter. 

Fish cooks incredibly quickly and begins to leech water as soon as its cooked which is one reason thick coating batters sometimes produce soggy and undesirable results.

This recipe is great for pretty much any fish you’d like to batter, and works particularly well with shelled langoustines, producing a crisp and sweet scampi. 

It’s also excellent with vegetables. We do a variation of this batter in Goldie with cauliflower leaves as a simple snack.

To accompany this weekend's battered haddock, a classic French sauce gribiche. 

A close relative to tartar sauce although it's a little richer with the inclusion of boiled chopped egg. 

The boiled yolks of the eggs are used to form the emulsion with the whites diced and mixed through the sauce. 

If you’d rather not go through the hassle of making the emulsion yourself, you can substitute the oil and vinegar for 140g of mayonnaise and add 1 boiled egg finely chopped along with the rest of the ingredients.

Ultimate Battered Haddock and Sauce Gribiche

To accompany this battered haddock, a classic French sauce gribiche. A close relative to tartar sauce although it's a little richer with the inclusion of boiled chopped egg.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 50 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 5 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 100g buckwheat flour

• 120g rice flour

• 20g potato starch

• ¼ tsp baking powder

• ¼ tsp baking soda

• Sea salt

• ½ tsp rapeseed oil

• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

• 215ml cold beer (or sparkling water)

• 20ml vodka

• 400g skinned and pin boned haddock, cut into 2cm x 12cm pieces

• For the sauce:

• 3 large eggs

• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

• 1 lemon, juiced

• 200ml rapeseed oil

• 70g gherkin, finely diced

• 2 tbsp capers, chopped

• 2 tbsp chopped chervil, dill and parsley

Method

1. Make the sauce first.

2. Bring a small pot of water to the boil. Once boiling add the eggs and cook for 8 minutes.

3. After 8 minutes remove the eggs from the pot and plunge into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and cool the eggs.

4. Peel the boiled eggs and slice in half. Using a teaspoon scoop out the jammy cooked egg yolks and place in a small clean dry bowl.

5. Dice the cooked whites and set aside.

6. Add the Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice to the cooked yolks. Whisk well until incorporated and a creamy paste has been formed.

7. Slowly add the rapeseed oil in drops each time, whisking until the mixture is fully combined before adding any more oil.

8. Once the emulsion is formed add the capers, gherkins, herbs and chopped egg white and set the sauce aside.

9. To make the batter:

10. Combine the buckwheat flour, rice flour, potato starch, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl.

11. Using a whisk incorporate the oil, vinegar, beer and vodka. To keep the batter cool when frying place, the batter over a bowl of ice.

12. Working in batches add the fish to the batter, coat well and shake off the excess batter before frying at 180 degrees Celsius in a preheated deep fat fryer for 2-3 minutes until golden brown and crispy.

13. Drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle with sea salt and serve with sauce gribiche.

Fish know-how

 

• If you don’t have a stand mixer, place a towel underneath the bowl to keep it in place, when adding the oil to the yolks when making the sauce gribiche.
• Make the batter just before you intend on frying for the best results.
• Keeping the liquids for the batter cool will produce a crispier batter.
• If you don’t have a deep fryer, use a heavy based pot filled halfway with oil and work in batches. A thermometer is essential if you don’t have a deep- fryer.
• If you are happy to remove the skin from the fish, make sure you do so with a very sharp knife on a stable dry surface. Alternatively ask your fishmonger who will be more than happy to do this for you.
• Buckwheat flour, rice flour and potato starch can be found in most health food shops.