Plate 08 of 10

Beer-Battered Rockfish and Chips

Name: Beer-Battered Rockfish and Chips
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Alaska
Ingredients: 800 g Pacific cod or rockfish fillets, skinless, in strips 10 by 4 cm; 180 g Plain flour; 60 g Cornstarch; 5 g Baking powder; 350 ml Amber ale, ice-cold and freshly opened; 5 g Garlic powder; 3 g Smoked paprika; 10 g Fine sea salt; 3 g Black pepper; 1.5 L Neutral frying oil, or beef tallow; 150 g Caper-dill tartar sauce; 2 whole Lemons, in wedges

Pier-shack fish and chips from Ketchikan to Homer. Strips of Pacific cod or rockfish dredged in seasoned flour, dipped in a lumpy batter of flour, cornstarch, baking powder and ice-cold amber ale, and fried at 185 °C so the dissolved gas and alcohol blow the crust into a thin blistered shell while the fish steams inside to 58 °C, drained on a rack and salted hot.

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 15 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Medium

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

Golden beer-battered fish pieces, one broken open to show white flakes, with hand-cut fries, tartar sauce and lemon wedges on a plate.

Along the piers from Ketchikan to Homer, fish-and-chip shacks turn the day’s Pacific cod and rockfish into golden comfort food. Cod gives dense, clean white flakes that stay juicy in the fryer; yelloweye and black rockfish are sweeter and more delicate.

The batter is light and airy because it is made with local craft beer, ice-cold and just opened. The carbon dioxide and alcohol in it expand and boil off the instant the fish hits 185 °C oil, inflating the flour and cornstarch into a thin honeycomb shell that seals in the steam and cooks the fish gently inside.

Ingredients

800 gPacific cod or rockfish fillets, skinless, in strips 10 by 4 cm
180 gPlain flour60 g for the dredge, 120 g for the batter
60 gCornstarch
5 gBaking powder
350 mlAmber ale, ice-cold and freshly opened
5 gGarlic powder
3 gSmoked paprika
10 gFine sea saltdivided, plus flaky salt to finish
3 gBlack pepper
1.5 LNeutral frying oil, or beef tallow
150 gCaper-dill tartar sauce
2 wholeLemons, in wedges

Gas and alcohol make the crust

Cold ale holds dissolved carbon dioxide. In 185 °C oil the gas expands into millions of bubbles in the starch, and the alcohol boils off at 78 °C, drying the crust faster than water could. Warm, flat beer gives a pancake.

Cornstarch for the shatter

Cornstarch has no gluten and high amylose. A quarter to a third of it in the flour keeps the shell glassy instead of chewy.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is the dredge, the batter and flaky salt on the hot fish. Fat is the frying oil and the tartar sauce. Acid is lemon, capers and pickle. Heat is pepper, paprika and garlic powder. Umami is the cod, the malt and the capers.

Equipment

Heavy deep Dutch oven, or a countertop fryer
Deep-fry thermometer
Wire spider and tongs
Wire rack over a sheet pan

At least three inches of oil so the temperature does not crash. Three or four pieces at a time, and let the oil recover to 185 °C between batches.

Method

Dredge5 min
Pat the fish dry and season with a teaspoon of salt and the pepper. Whisk 60 g flour with the garlic powder and paprika and dredge the strips lightly, shaking off all but a film.
Pat the fish dry and season with a teaspoon of salt and the pepper. Whisk 60 g flour with the garlic powder and paprika and dredge the strips lightly, shaking off all but a film.
Mix the batter last2 min
Whisk 120 g flour, the cornstarch, baking powder and a teaspoon of salt. Just before frying, pour in the ice-cold ale and whisk 15 seconds only. Small lumps are right.
Whisk 120 g flour, the cornstarch, baking powder and a teaspoon of salt. Just before frying, pour in the ice-cold ale and whisk 15 seconds only. Small lumps are right.
Heat the oil8 min
Heat the oil in the Dutch oven over medium-high to 185 °C.
Heat the oil in the Dutch oven over medium-high to 185 °C.
Dip and lower1 min
Three or four pieces at a time, dip the floured fish in the batter and let it drip 2 seconds. Lower each piece away from you, holding one end in the oil 3 seconds before letting go so it does not stick.
Work with 3–4 pieces at a time. Dip floured fish in batter; drip 2 seconds. Lower away from you, holding one end in the oil 3 seconds before releasing to prevent sticking.
Fry5 min
Fry 4 to 5 minutes, turning after 2, until deep golden and blistered. The fish should read 57 to 60 °C.
Fry 4 to 5 minutes, turning after 2, until deep golden and blistered. The fish should read 57 to 60 °C.
Drain on a rack1 min
Lift out with the spider, drain 5 seconds, and set on the wire rack, never paper, which traps steam. Salt at once with flaky salt.
Lift out with the spider, drain 5 seconds, and set on the wire rack, never paper, which traps steam. Salt at once with flaky salt.
Repeat10 min
Let the oil come back to 185 °C and fry the rest. Hold finished pieces on the rack in a 95 °C oven.
Let the oil come back to 185 °C and fry the rest. Hold finished pieces on the rack in a 95 °C oven.
Serve
With thick-cut fries, tartar sauce, malt vinegar and lemon wedges.
Serve with thick-cut fries, caper-dill tartar sauce, malt vinegar and lemon wedges.
09
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: a puffed golden-bronze crust with visible micro-blisters; snowy moist flakes inside.
- Auditory: a roar as the fish goes in, and a hollow crunch under the knife.
- Olfactory: toasted malt, garlic and paprika, clean fried whitefish, lemon.
Look for puffed golden-bronze, finely blistered crust and moist white flakes. Expect a frying roar, hollow crunch and aromas of malt, garlic, paprika, fried whitefish and lemon.

Troubleshooting

Limp, greasy batter.: Oil below 170 °C or too many pieces. Hold 180 to 185 °C, three or four pieces at a time.
Batter slid off in the oil.: Wet fish, no dredge. Dry it and dust it with flour so the batter has something to grip.
Thick, doughy crust.: Overmixed, or warm flat beer. Ice-cold, freshly opened, 15 seconds of whisking.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Pacific cod or rockfish	Halibut, lingcod, pollock or haddock	Halibut flakes larger; fry 30 seconds less
Amber ale	Any amber or pale ale, or ice-cold club soda	Soda gives a paler, tempura-light crust
Cornstarch	Rice flour or potato starch	Rice flour makes an especially crisp, gluten-free shell

Scaling

Half

One litre of oil; 4 to 5 minutes a batch as before.

Double

Double the fish and batter but not the oil in one pot. Fry in more batches.

What to serve it with

Hand-cut fries and creamy coleslaw
Caper-dill tartar sauce, malt vinegar, lemon
The same amber ale that went in the batter

Questions

Seltzer instead of beer?

Yes. Ice-cold club soda lifts the batter the same way and gives a very pale, crisp crust without alcohol.

Why blend cornstarch into the flour?

It has no gluten, so the crust cannot toughen, and its amylose sets glassy and loud.

Keeping the first batch crisp?

On the wire rack in a 95 °C oven. Dry heat holds the crust up to 15 minutes.