This recipe for cod in a delicious beer batter comes from a real barbecue house, Smokey Jon’s #1 BBQ in Madison, WI.
I just love real fish and chips, not the boxed kind, but real homemade battered fish and fresh from scratch french fries.
This is an excellent batter recipe that will come out light and crispy each time. I think you will love it.
The batter recipe is very easy to make with flour and corn starch. The corn starch makes the batter come out nice and light when the fish is fried. Add a cup of beer plus 1 egg to the flour and mix to create the batter. It’s really quite simple.
Tip for Frying Beer Batter Fish
When you fry your fish remember to place the fish in the hot oil away from you. That is, place the bottom part of the fish in the oil then move your hand back, away from your body, as you let go of the fish.
That way you are far less likely to splash yourself with hot oil. Always be very careful obviously of hot oil. It can be pretty dangerous.
There is a great tartar sauce included in the recipe too. Tartar sauce is the perfect accompaniment to fried fish.
Tartar sauce recipes really vary. This one is really authentic with the addition of capers. You’ll find my recipe for tartar sauce here. They are fairly similar.
This batter recipe is part of a collection of wonderful barbecue pit recipes found in the cookbook America’s Best BBQ
. If you love barbecue, this cookbook is a real find.
There are three toppings that most people use for battered fish. There are the tartar sauce people, fresh lemon juice, or that old standby ketchup.
What kind of fish sauce user are you? I use a combination of tartar sauce and lemon juice. So delicious.
Cod in Beer Batter with Tartar Sauce
Ingredients
For the Cod:
- cooking oil, for deep-frying ( about 1 quart)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, large, lightly beaten
- 1 cup beer, or as needed
- 2 pounds cod, haddock or hake fillets, cut into approximately 1 1/2" x 3" pieces
Tartar Sauce:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 scallion, both white and green parts, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons dilled gherkins, minced
- 1 tablespoon capers, minced, drained
- 2 tablespoons parsley, snipped fresh
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
Instructions
- Combine all the tartar sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate.
- Preheat the oven to 200°F.
- Cover a cookie sheet with paper towels and top with a wire rack.
- In a medium pot or deep fryer, heat 3 inches of oil to 350°F (use a deep frying thermometer if you are using a pot).
- Meanwhile, mix the flour and cornstarch with the salt. Whisk in the egg. Slowly add the beer while whisking just until the ingredients are incorporated. Dip the fish pieces in the batter and place on a plate or the wire rack you will be using to drain the fried fish. If you have some batter left over, you can dip the fish in the batter again after the first coat of batter dries on the fish awaiting frying.
- Place the fish pieces, two at a time, in the oil. Cook until the fish is done and the crust is lightly golden, about 4 minutes for 3/4 inch thick fillets. Remove the fish with tongs and put on the rack to drain. Sprinkle salt over the hot fish and put the baking sheet in the oven while you cook the other batches.
Nutrition
Serve with the tartar sauce and freshly made french fries.
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