Beer-Battered Fish and Chips

I have not blogged for a couple of days because I have been busy trying to find suitable accomodation in London. The time difference and the inability to view properties in person also does not help the situation. Thank God for street views and Google maps! Also, I'm starting to appreciate our current home a little bit more considering all the places we can afford are no bigger than a shoebox.

We have bought our air tickets yesterday which were one way tickets. That had been a pretty confronting event. Up to this point, this trip of ours seemed surreal even though we talked about it almost everyday. Now that it is actually happening, I'm grappling with a lot of mixed emotions, mainly of excitement and daunt.

I've still been cooking though.... which is always a therapeutic process for me during times of stress. Nothing like cooking to channel excess energy into a productive nature.

Fish and chips - supposedly very English, but some might say very Aussie as well. Almost every strip of shops in Melbourne would have a fish and chip place. But once you've made your own, I don't think you'll venture back into those shops anytime soon. Why would you? When you make it at home, you use better quality fish, unsaturated oil for frying etc. But most importantly, it would taste so much better- this recipe is great because the batter is so light and crunchy!

Fish and Chip Recipe

4-5 large flat head tails, cut into two pieces each
1 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 bottle chilled beer
salt and pepper
plain flour for dusting
veg oil for deep-frying


In a large bowl, place flour and baking powder, mix well. Slowly add chilled beer until you get a pouring cream consistent. ( Hubby polished off what was left in the bottle) Don't worry if there are lumps, it does not have to be smooth. Try to keep the batter cool.

Season fish with salt and pepper, then dust lightly with flour. Dip the fillets one at a time into the batter and fry in hot oil until golden. Place on absorbent paper.

Serve with salad and chips. I just bake some frozen Bird's Eye Brand chips in the oven, saves me from frying them!