Chinese Salt Pepper Fish & Chips

• 400g skinless, boneless haddock or cod fillets

The Batter

• 110g plain flour
• 20g cornflour
• 250ml very cold beer or sparkling water
• ½ teaspoon chilli powder
• ½ teaspoon turmeric
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon crushed Sichuan peppercorns
• 2 large potatoes, preferably Maris Piper or similar floury potato, washed well with skin kept on
• ¼ teaspoon Salt
• Vegetable Oil for frying

Sichuan Pepper Seasoning

• 2 teaspoons crushed Sichuan peppercorns
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper

PREPARATION

• To make the batter, place the flours, spices, salt, pepper together, then pour in the beer, mix well with whisk until smooth batter is formed.

• Keep some extra plain flour aside in a bowl for tossing the fish into later.

• Cut the potatoes lengthwise into roughly 1 cm thick slices. Soak the slices in cold water to remove the excess starch. Pat them dry using a kitchen towel or a tea towel and set aside for deep-frying.

• Pat the fish fillets dry and toss them first into the flour, then dip each finger into the batter.

COOKING

• Half-fill a large pot, wok or deep-fryer with vegetable oil and heat to 130°C. Deep fry the potatoes in batches for approx. 8 minutes or until cooked through. Set aside on kitchen towel to drain off any excess oil.

• Turn the heat up until oil reaches 180°C. Carefully cook the battered fish in the oil for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Drain the excess oil on a kitchen towel.

• Deep fry the chips a second time until golden brown, this time for only a 3-4 minutes