It’s National Fish and Chip Day.
Is there any greater British tradition than fish and chips? In a recent poll, it was ranked second in a list of the 50 things we love most about Britain, beating the Queen into second place.
One of the misnomers about fish and chips is that it is unhealthy, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The British National Federation of Fish Fryers is keen to stress that this institution since Victorian times is healthy. A medium serving of cod or haddock has 838 calories and 9.42 grams of fat. When you consider a McDonalds quarter pounder with cheese has 13 grams of saturated fat, you can see what we mean – plus the fries will break down unlike their Maccies counterparts (watch Supersize Me to see what we mean!).
If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know we like to look at things that are a little different and fish and chips is no exception.
Believe it or not, an ice cream parlour in Whitby came up with a fish and chip ice cream! This consists of a scoop of minty mushy peas, a scoop of fish flavour rolled in scraps, all served up in a cone with a chip as a flake.
In Indonesia, Pizza Hut launched a fish and chip pizza, which we are surprised has not made its way to these shores.
A Michelin-star restaurant in London is offering a fish and chip supper for a whopping £300. The dish is made up of two layers of Dover sole sandwiched between layers of fine black truffle. The fish is topped by vintage champagne crispy batter and are accompanied by Maris Piper chips and a pea puree.
In the spirit of being different, here’s our National Fish and Chip Day inspired recipe:
Thai fish and chips, which is made up of cod loin, Singha beer and black sesame batter, triple cooked chips, Thai red curry sauce, Edamame bean puree, crispy capers, wilted samphire & baby pak choi.
Recipe:
Batter:
200g plain flour
200g cornflour
3 tsp baking powder
5g turmeric
300ml singha beer
4 tsp black sesame seeds
Thai red curry sauce:
2 stalks of lemongrass
1 fresh red chilli
2 cloves of garlic
4 kaffir lime leaves, fresh, dried or frozen
Bunch of fresh coriander
2 jarred red peppers in oil
1 heaped tsp tomato purée
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2cm piece of fresh ginger
1 x 400g tin of coconut milk
Tsp thai red curry paste
Method:
For the batter:
Combine the flour, cornflour, baking powder and turmeric in a large bowl, season. Gradually pour the beer and water into the bowl, add the sesame seeds, stirring with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth, lump-free batter. Leave to rest for 30 mins while you prepare the chips. Fry the chips three times followed by the fish.
For the Thai red paste:
Trim the ends and tough outer leaves of the lemongrass stalks, bash up the stalks with the side of a knife, then put into a food processor with the red chilli, garlic, lime leaves, coriander, red peppers, tomato purée, fish sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil. Peel and add 2 ginger. Blitz to a paste – you might need to stop and use a spatula to scrape down the sides so it all gets whizzed up.
Fry the paste off for five minutes add the coconut milk and simmer for 15 minutes, ready to serve.
About Neil Shaefer
Marketing & Communications Executive of SK Foods.
Your food. Our Passion.
