Delia's Techniques - How to Shallow Fry Fish

Delia shows how to make Shallow Fried Fish: once you have learned how to make a batter in our Cookery School you can then actually shallow fry fish without all the bother of deep frying. The fish shouldn't be too thick so tail ends of thicker fish, or flat fish like plaice, are ideal.
Slice down the middle to divide into two, trim the ends, and feel for bones and pinch them out if there are any. Lay the fish out into a bowl of batter made from just flour, baking powder, chilled water and seasoning. You can if you want to use beer, but Delia thinks there is very little difference. The oil in the frying pan should just be 1 cm, place it on a high heat, then to check if its hot enough do a little test. Use a splodge of batter and if it turns golden in 60 seconds its hot enough. Now turn the fish over in the batter again, then lay them skin side up, one after the other into the hot oil. Reduce the temperature a little now and time them for 3 minutes, before turning them over and giving them another 3 to 4 minutes. When the batter is crisp and golden the fish will be cooked.
Remove them with a fish slice, drain on kitchen paper. Serve sprinkled with flakes of Maldon salt and the vinegar has to be malt vinegar, no other will do. Don't forget the Chunky Tartare sauce recipe we learned in Term 2. The batter is light, very, very crisp and the fish beautifully cooked inside.
For full recipes and ingredients :
Shallow Fried Fish - www.deliaonlin...
Chunky Tartare Sauce: www.deliaonlin...
For more recipes from our collection visit www.deliaonline.com