Crispy Fried Cod Recipe With Batter

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5 from 1 vote

Crispy Fried Cod Recipe With Batter

Crispy fried cod in beer batter served Greek-style with garlic mashed potatoes (Skordalia).

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Greek, International

Keyword: Fish, fried

Servings: people

Calories: 392kcal

Ingredients

1 kilogram (2.2 pound) dry salted cod fillet cut into 8-9 cm pieces
all-purpose flour
vegetable oil for frying (sunflower, canola etc)

For The Frying Batter:

300 ml beer cold
100 grams (1 cup minus 1 tablespoon) all-purpose flour
100 grams (10 tablespoons) corn starch
10 grams (2 teaspoons) baking powder
⅓ teaspoon fine sea salt

To Serve With:

1 batch Skordalia see recipe here
4 small beets boiled or this simple beetroot salad

Instructions

Desalt The Cod:

Rinse cod under running water to remove excess salt.
Soak cod in 5-6 liters of cold water for 24 hours. Change the soaking water with fresh at least 7-8 times in total.
Scale the skin using a butter knife. Then rinse with water to remove any remnant scales.
Drain the fish in a strainer and then pat dry with paper towels.
Coat the fish in flour and shake to remove excess. Allow to rest on a plate while you prepare the batter.

Make The Frying Batter:

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt) in a bowl.
Pour in the beer. Stir gently but quickly with a spoon it's okay if it's a little bit lumpy, break only the larger lumps with the back of the spoon (See Note 1 below).
Freeze the batter for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oil.

Fry The Cod:

Half-fill a large frying pan with oil (a thick-bottomed one) or use a shallow cooking pot. Heat over medium-high to high heat depending on how strong is your stove.
Heat oil to 180°C / 356°F.
Fry the fish. Give a stir to the batter and dip a piece of the fish in it, holding it up for 2 seconds to dredge excess batter. Carefully dip it into the hot oil (See Note 2 below).
Fry 2-3 pieces at a time and allow the temperature to drop to 160°C /320°F. Flip the fish after the first 3-4 minutes. Fry for 7-8 minutes overall (See Note 3 below).
Serve. Transfer the fish to a cooling rack to drain excess oil. And then serve with some Skordalia and boiled beetroots.

Notes

Note 1: Don't overmix the batter and don't use a whisk to mix it. Because we don't want gluten to develop and make it chewy and elastic.

Note 2: You can hold the fish by pricking it with a skewer. This way you can dip it in the hot oil without burning yourself. You also make sure the fish won't sink at the bottom.

Note 3: When you dip the fish into the oil, the oil needs to be very hot, to 180°C / 356°F so the batter immediately forms a crust and doesn't fall off the fish. After a few minutes, the temperature will start to drop. Try to keep it to 160°C /320°F to allow the fish to cook slowly on the inside as well. An instant-read thermometer will help you keep the right temperatures.

Nutrition