Hake in beer batter recipe from SA’s Cookbook of the Year 2014

Daisy Jones shares a crowd-pleasing recipe from her award-winning green cookbook, ‘Starfish: Top 10 Sustainable Fish’ (Quivertree)

Eco-conscious cooking is easy with ‘Starfish: Top 10 Sustainable Fish’ (Quivertree) by Daisy Jones. This local cookbook is filled with simple, scrumptious recipes that only use fish off SASSI’s green list. It’s also the overall winner of Sunday Times Food Weekly’s first-ever Cookbook Awards, in association with Pick n Pay.

Hake in beer batter

Serves 4

"Unless you’ve got a really big fryer, or you’re a dab hand at deep-frying like my mum, don’t make fish and chips at home for more than four people," suggests Daisy. "Start cooking the fish only when your oven chips are in the oven. They’ll be in there for half an hour, about the same amount of time you’ll need to cook your fish in batches."

Ingredients:

Sunflower oil, for deep-frying

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

4 hake fillets (225g each)

225g flour, plus extra for dusting

285ml beer, cold

3 heaped tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Pour the sunflower oil into your deep fat fryer or a large frying pan and turn up the heat to high. (We are aiming for 190°C).

2. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the fish fillets. This will help to remove any excess water, making the fish really meaty (the same principle as pre-salting).

3. Whisk together the flour, beer and baking powder until shiny. It should be as thick as semi-whipped double cream. Dust each fish fillet in a little of the extra flour. Before you dip the fish in the batter, check that the oil is ready. A raw chip or cube of bread should rise to the top easily, but the oil should not be smoking.

4. Dip the fish into the batter and allow any excess to drip off. Holding one end, lower the fillets into the oil one by one, carefully so you don’t get splashed – it will depend on the size of your fryer how many fish you can do at once. Cook for 4 minutes or so, until the batter is golden and crisp. When one batch of fish is done, drain it on kitchen paper then simply pop it in the oven with the chips to keep warm (though don’t leave the fish in there too long; remember the oven is scorching hot).

Cook's tip: flouring as an alternative to battering

On not-brave days the simplest way to avoid batter yet generate a similar effect is to season and flour the fish, then fry it in a pan. It’s one of the absolute best ways to fry up fish or fishcakes in a hurry. It’s also delicious.

Follow the recipe above, while obviously omitting to make the batter. Instead, on a sheet of greaseproof paper, season the fish with salt, pepper and cayenne. Place a thin layer of flour in a flattish dish and coat the fish by laying both sides in the flour. Alternatively, mix the seasonings and flour together and coat in the dish. Pour 2 tbsp oil into the frying pan and add the fish. Cook until golden, finely grating the Parmesan over the top when you flip it over.