[wongus]

This is a great batter recipe for your fresh fish fillets.

In a large bowl combine
1 cup of ice water
1 egg
Beat egg lightly in the water with a fork

Add to above
2/3 cup of plain flour
1/3 cup of corn flour
Mix flour into the bowl but don't worry about the lumpy bits or sifting the flour (the type of recipe I like)

Add 2 or 3 ice cubes into bowl as secret is to have very cold batter and your fresh fish fillets. Heat peanut or canola oil in a pan till very hot (just about smokin') and add battered fillets. Cook till batter is golden brown and turn once. Should only be about 2-3 mins per side depending on thickness of fillets.

Place cooked fish on a rack to drain until ready to serve (can leave on a plate instead but the rack keeps the batter crispy). Serve immediately and add a squeeze of fresh lemon, salt and pepper and garnish with fresh garden salad. Wash it all down with an icy cold beer. Enjoy!

 

[LizardWizard]

thanks for the great recipe, im gonna give it a go tonight.
i will be using it on flathead

not a recipe, but a technique....
the way the chefs do tempura prawns at the Oshin Japanese Restaurant, at Sunnybank, Qld...

they first dip prawns into the batter, and then fry it in clean oil, hold the spider (a large flat wire sieve, with long bamboo handle) under the prawns to keep them on the surface, then with a ladle, they dribble more of the batter directly into the deep fryer, be warned.. if you POUR it in, it will splash and give nasty burns on your face.. make sure to DRIBBLE it in and over the floating prawns.

how i get a light fluffy batter....
the way we used to make tempura back at the ANZ stadium, many years ago is to use half plain flour, and half corn flour, with a small amount of sodium bicarbonate, soda water and then use egg whites only, no yolks.

dry mix the flours, and bicarb, then add soda water, the best way is to add just enough soda water to make a slush.

then, using a large cooks spoon, and use a cutting and folding technique, slide the edge of the spoon through the mixture on side of bowl, and lift it up on top to middle. lift the batter from the blowl, dont stir it like a paddle, or you will knock out all the suspended CO2 bubbles. add more soda water to make consistency of runny honey, then last step, is to whisk egg whites to a soft peak, and again, fold it through the batter, DONT mix it or you will knock out the air.

if the egg whites are done to a firm peak, when you fold it through, it will all collapse from being overworked. this is similar to cream. cream becomes butter and buttermilk, egg whites become egg whites again, and once collapsed, cannot be whipped to peak again, you need to start again with fresh egg white.

tip: using 3 small very clean bowls (remove soap residue by rinse the bowls and air dry, dont wipe them or you make them dirty again, no matter how clean you think you are, egg whites are particular and will not form a meringue if there is even slight hint of something not egg white, water, soap, salt, and oil are the worst), break the egg into one bowl, then remove the yolk to a second bowl, then pour the pure white into a 3rd bowl, get your next egg, and repeat the process.

if you happen to pop a yolk, you must be carefull to remove it ALL, or the white will not peak at all.

the reason for 3 bowls.. some eggs may be old, or worse.. rotten.
and you have a guarantee that the last egg wont spoil the whites by accidentally popping the yolk. yolks can have whites, but whites can NOT have yolks.

in a fast kitchen, if you pop a yolk, it is quickest to pour the whole egg into the yolk bowl, and use this to thicken cream based sauces, like Carbonara, or Marinara. note.. not tomato based marinara (traditional)

hope these techniques help to get a fluffy batter

 

[Peril]

Things that batter, like it eh?. :lol:

Stealing your lines from Alexander Downer now Paul! How low can you go?