Perfect fish and chips with mushy peas

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 225g flour, plus extra for dusting
• 290ml Guinness, cold
• 3 heaped tsp baking powder
• 900g potatoes, peeled and sliced into chips
• 400g white fish fillets pin boned by fishmonger (for example cod cut into four)
• sunflower oil, for deep frying
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

For the mushy peas

• 1 knob butter
• 4 handfuls podded peas
• 1 small handful fresh mint, leaves picked and chopped
• 1 squeeze lemon juice
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. To make the mushy peas, put the butter in a pan with the peas and chopped mint. 
2. Put a lid on top and simmer for about 10 mins. 
3. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. 
4. You can either mush the peas up in a food processor, or you can mash them by hand until they are stodgy and thick. 
5. Keep warm while you cook the fish and chips.
6. Pour the sunflower oil into your deep fat fryer or a large frying pan and heat it to 190°C. 
7. Mix the salt and pepper together and season the fish fillets on both sides. This will help to remove any excess water, making the fish really meaty. 
8. Whisk the flour, beer and baking powder together until shiny. The texture should be like semi-whipped cream (it should stick to whatever you’re coating). 
9. Dust each fish fillet in a little extra flour, then dip into the batter and allow any excess to drip off. 
10. Holding one end, lower the fish into the oil one by one, carefully so you don’t get splashed – it will depend on the size of your fryer how many fish you can do at once. 
11. Cook for 4 mins or so until the batter is golden and crisp.
12. Meanwhile, parboil your chips in salted boiling water for about 4 or 5 mins until softened but still retaining their shape. 
13. Drain them in a colander and leave to steam completely dry. 
14. When all the moisture has disappeared, fry them in the oil that the fish were cooked in at 180°C until golden and crisp. While the chips are frying, you can place the fish on a baking tray and put them in the oven for a few mins at 180°C to finish cooking. This way they will stay crisp while you finish cooking the chips. 
15. Drain them on kitchen paper. Season with salt, and serve with fish and mushy peas. 
16. Sprinkle with vinegar. Serve fish with wedges of lemon and mayonnaise and ketchup.

This recipe first appeared on Gourmet Today, October, 2016.