I am trying to cook a fish in crispy batter, all I get is floppy anybody any ideas?

Answer 1

It's all in the batter.
Mix up some plain flour with fizzy beer (cheap lager is best), and a pinch of salt.
The batter should be runny, but not too much so. Like the texture of double cream.
Now cover your fish in dry flour, and bring your oil temperature up nice and high.
Test the oil temperature by dropping a tny drip of the batter into it. If the oil goes mad bubbling straight away and the batter instantly floats, the oil is ready.
So take your floured fish and cover it completely in your beer batter, shake off the drips, and then place it into the hot oil.
Let it fry until it goes a nice golden brown colour.
Then serve with chunky chips (fries if you're american) and lashings of salt and vinegar.

Answer 2

Try it this way, works for me.

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 dash Old Bay Seasoning
1 bottle brown beer, cold
1 1/2 lbs firm-fleshed white fish fillets, cut into 1 ounce strips
cornstarch, for dredging

Heat oil in a deep fryer (or 5-quart Dutch oven over high heat) until it reaches 350 degrees.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne pepper, and Old Bay seasoning.
Whisk in the beer until the batter is completely smooth and free of any lumps.
Refrigerate for 15-60 minutes.
Lightly dredge fish strips in cornstarch.
Working in small batches, dip the fish into batter and immerse into hot oil.
When the batter is set, turn the pieces of fish over and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes.
Drain the fish on a roasting rack.
Allow oil to return to 350 degrees between batches

Answer 3

When making the batter mix use beer instead of water and ensure that the oil is hot enought by putting a little of the batter mix into the oil first to see hos quikly it fries....good luck 'cos theres nothing worse than soggy batter.

Answer 4

We fish all summer long and then we have an annual fish fry with our friends and family. The following recipe has been a favorite.

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup corn meal (yellow or white)
1 tablespoon lemon pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Mix all together in a shallow dish

In another shallow dish, dip fish in egg wash (2 eggs beaten
with 1/8 cup of milk.

Dip fish in egg mixture then coat in dry ingrediants. fry on med
in a good canola oil till fish is golden brown on both sides.

My fish always stays crispy and yummy.

Answer 5

as a chef we at my restaurant make it like this,.and its so simple
plain four about 4oz add 1 teaspoon of baking powder and here is the bit that does it..vinegar! about 2 tablespoons.watch the reaction and then add water ,enough to make the batter look like double cream.add salt and use
top tip flour your fish first to make the batter stick and the oil must be at about 180oc when the fish floats its ready.
we sell this as traditional fish and chips and so far its worked very well.

good luck and enjoy

Gary the chef

Answer 6

First flour the fish, (I season the flour) then dip in egg & water beaten with a fork, and roll in panko (Japanese style) bread crumbs.

They will turn out very crispy, you will not loose the bread crumbs, that is why you flour the fish first.

You can purchase Panko crumbs in any larger grocery story in
the ethnic asile.

The oil should be 360 -380 degrees and use a theromoter always. Add fish in one by one, everytime you add to hot oil, it will cool done, so do this slowly. AND, don't over crowd, fry a smaller amount at a time.

good luck

Answer 7

Are you using breading, too? That always helps! Your grocery store has a ton of 'em. And, I agree about the oil; it must be hot. But, watch it because fish cooks very quickly. Only cook until it flakes with a fork. Any longer than that and it will be tough!

Answer 8

Make sure that the oil is hot..if it's too cool the batter won't crisp

Answer 9

My family and myself love this recipe. We have it a couple of times a month. The beer battered fish anyways.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_14230,00.html?rsrc=search

Answer 10

I'd say that the oil is not hot enough.

The recipe that I found says to cook at 425F:
http://www.recipezaar.com/155580

Good luck