This is a delicious, accidental twist on traditional beer-battered fish.
We bought apple cider for a recent wine tasting and served it as an appetizer with beer-battered fish. Shortly afterward, Ralph made battered fish for our Sunday night dinner and unknowingly grabbed a bottle of apple cider instead of beer.
The flavour impressed us so much that we likely won’t go back to using beer batter.
For true British flair—especially when you serve this battered fish with chips (fries)—try splashing on some artisan malt vinegar.
When deep frying, use beef tallow or, as a second choice, peanut oil. Avoid canola, sunflower, and other seed oils. Read Ralph’s rant on this subject.
In addition to chips, you can pair this dish with Air Fryer Rosemary and Thyme Potato Wedges with Grainy Mustard, Oma Marion’s Raw Fried Potatoes with Bacon, or Deep Fried Blooming Onion—especially since you’re already using a deep fryer.
An air fryer reheats leftover fish beautifully. You can also turn the leftover fish into a burger.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cornstarch
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 3 tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp ground white pepper
- 500 mL apple cider (non-alcoholic also works)
- 750 g halibut, skin removed, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper (about 6 pieces)
- 900–1350 g (4 to 6 cups) beef tallow or 1 to 1.5 L (4 to 6 cups) peanut oil, depending on the size of your deep fryer
- Lemon wedges
- Artisan malt vinegar
Instructions:
- Scoop the beef tallow into the fryer or pour in the peanut oil, then heat over medium heat to 350°F (180°C).
- In a medium-sized dish, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, cayenne pepper, paprika, sea salt, and white pepper.
- Remove 2 cups of the flour mixture and place it in a casserole dish.
- Pour the apple cider into the remaining flour mixture and whisk to form a batter. Don’t pour it all in at once—pour and whisk until you get a sticky batter.
- Pat the fish dry with paper towels, salt and pepper them.
- Dredge each piece of fish in the flour mixture in the casserole dish, shaking off any excess.
- Dip the fish into the batter, letting the excess drip off, then shake gently.
- Return the battered fish to the casserole dish and turn to coat both sides.
- Fry the fish one or two pieces at a time, depending on the size of your deep fryer—don’t crowd them—turning once until golden brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side.
- Transfer to a serving plate and serve with a lemon wedge, malt vinegar, and your choice of side.
Apple Cider–Battered Deep-Fried Fish
Ingredients
Method
- Scoop the beef tallow into the fryer or pour in the peanut oil, then heat over medium heat to 350°F (180°C).
- In a medium-sized dish, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, cayenne pepper, paprika, sea salt, and white pepper.
- Remove 2 cups of the flour mixture and place it in a casserole dish.
- Pour the apple cider into the remaining flour mixture and whisk to form a batter. Don’t pour it all in at once—pour and whisk until you get a sticky batter.
- Pat the fish dry with paper towels, salt and pepper them.
- Dredge each piece of fish in the flour mixture in the casserole dish, shaking off any excess.
- Dip the fish into the batter, letting the excess drip off, then shake gently.
- Return the battered fish to the casserole dish and turn to coat both sides.
- Fry the fish one or two pieces at a time, depending on the size of your deep fryer—don’t crowd them—turning once until golden brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side.
- Transfer to a serving plate and serve with a lemon wedge, malt vinegar, and your choice of side.