Went to the market and found pink ling fish on sale, bought 6 fillets and I forgot to buy potato to make chips. Anyway, I have a packet of salad. Will just have it with salad. Then I looked at my fridge there are a few slices of bread best finished so I can get a new batch.

My father gave me a pack of Heineken beers, so I decided to do beer battered fish. Then I don’t like frying in oil. I am going to baked it. Finger crossed that it will turn out perfect. I also like a hint of spiciness in my beer battered fish. I am going to add cayenne powder and paprika as most Italian do add it to their meatballs sauce.

Google for oven baked recipe, there aren’t many but a lot use oil. This is trial and error experimenting. The idea of using cold beer will create a crispier crust when it hits the hot oil. Hmm!!! But I am not using oil. I wondered will it be crispy. Most recipes seem to use panko. If I use panko, Italian cook will not try my creation. To play it safe for everyone, I am using breadcrumbs.

Google: “Fried, battered fish and chips is not healthy by most standards due to the amount of oil involved in deep frying.” Well, best baked in oven. I am glad to try baking though its not puff up as seen in most recipes. It sure is beautiful golden, crispy and delicious. Let’s baked battered fish!!!

Ingredients

4 pink ling fillets
4 slices bread
1 packet salad
6-8 cherries tomatoes
butter, spread bread
salt
pepper

Beer batter

1 1/2 c plain flour
1/2 c rice flour
2 Tsp cayenne powder
2 Tsp paprika
2 Tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 Tsp salt
1 1/2 Tsp garlic powder
1 Tsp pepper
2 c fine breadcrumb
1 cup beer, very cold

Method

Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the fillets and put them in the fridge for 10-20 minutes. This will help draw out the moisture, then make sure to pat them down with a paper towel. Preheat oven 220 degrees C. Place an oven-safe cooling rack that is lightly sprayed with oil spray. “Using a cooling rack lets air circulate all around the fish and ensures even baking”.

Mix plain flour, rice flour, salt, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, paprika and pepper in mixing bowl. Remove 1 cup flour mixture and place in shallow bowl; set aside. Add cold beer to flour mixture in mixing bowl and whisk until well blended (should be thick like heavy cream).

I read on one of the recipes said to “place the batter into fridge, the batter gets crispier and is even better if you let it sit for about 10 minutes in the fridge before dredging, it lets the carbonation and yeast in the beer do their magic”. Put breadcrumb in another shallow bowl and set aside.

After patting fillets dry, coat filets in the removed 1 cup flour mixture in shallow bowl; shake off excess. Dip fillets into beer batter and coat fillets into breadcrumb. Place fillets onto prepared rack. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Bake 15-20 minutes; until golden colour and fish is cooked through.

Serve with a piece of buttered bread, top with salad. Then place 2 fillets on top of salad and place halved cherries in the middle of the two fillets and one each at the bottom of fillet. The plate above is mine. I needed chili sauce, so squirt some chili sauce over my fillets. Enjoy with a very cold beer!!!!

Note: Oven temperature may vary. You might want you temperature to 200 degrees C. Keep watch that fillets do not brown too fast. You do not want too thin of a fillet, but too thick will ruin the results too. So, if your fillet is more than about 3 centimetres thick, consider slicing it horizontally to make thinner pieces, allowing you to have it cooked through by the time the batter is that nice golden colour. Avoid dark stouts and ales. They have too much flavour.

https://helenscchin.com/2024/04/04/baked-beer-battered-fish-on-bread-with-salad

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