Tempura Fish and Chips with Mushy Peas
I found this ancient-looking white fish fillet in the freezer when I moved back home from Singapore. It seemed like Josh had decided that he felt like a bit of fish, bought a fillet, put it in the freezer and didn’t what to do with it since. I decided that fish and chips might be in order after racking my brain and didn’t really think of something suitable for a piece of fish that may not be so fresh either.
I defrosted the fish, then rinsed and patted it dry with some kitchen towel. Sprinkle a little bit of salt on both side to draw out some more moisture and leave it for 10-15 more minutes. Pat the fillet dry again. The idea was to get the fillet as dry as possible so we ended up with nice firm piece of fish after it had been deep-fried.
Chips
Peel and cut potato into chips. Parboil the potatoes in lightly salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and spread out the chips to dry completely before frying.
Tempura Batter
- 1 cup of iced water
- 3/4 cup of self-raising flour
- 1 egg
Beat egg lightly until combined, add the iced water. Mix. Add the flour and mix lightly. The batter should remain lumpy. It’s important that you don’t over-mix a tempura batter.
Pour vegetable oil for deep frying into a wok or a deep saucepan. Let the oil heat up until the surface shimmers slightly. Test for putting in a piece of chip. If it sizzles straight away, it’s ready. Start by frying the chips for about 6-7 minutes. Remove the chips and drain on kitchen towel. Dip the fish in the batter and fry the fish for about 3 minutes on each side or until browned all over. Drain on kitchen towel. Fry the chips again for another 5 minutes or until golden brown. If you have leftover batter, don’t throw it out. Make some tenkasu for later use!
Mushy Peas
- 1 cup of frozen peas
- 1 tbsp of butter
- 1 tbsp of lemon juice
- 1 tbsp of chopped fresh mint
Add butter and frozen peas in a saucepan. Cook on low heat for about 10 minutes. Add a little of water if it becomes too dry. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice and mint. Mash the peas together with a fork. I have decided, though, that next time, I won’t mash the peas even if that’s the traditional way with fish and chips. Although using frozen peas is hardly traditional anyway!
I also served it with the fennel, mandarin and avocado salad
