Recipe: Gourmet Fish & Chips
A Kiwi Classic With a Minaret Station Twist
Join us as Head Chef Alastair Wilson brings to life this delicious kiwi staple. This recipe can be achieved using a deep fryer or a cast iron pot. Cooking with oil can be dangerous, therefore we advise against using a pot if you are unfamiliar with this method.
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700 grams fresh fish - such as blue cod, gurnard, snapper, sea perch or groper.
Ensure fish is cut and portioned the same size for equal cooking. (in the South island, we feed snapper to our cats)
4 large potatoes, washed and cut into shoestring style chips.
Thinner slices will come out more crispy.
1 egg white
3/4 cup flour
1 cup beer - local larger or pilsner beer. If you don't have beer or prefer a gluten-free option use rice flour and soda water.
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2 vine ripened tomatoes - diced
8 mixed colour cherry tomatoes - cut in half
1/2 red onion - diced
1 red chilli - seeds removed and finely diced
Fresh coriander - chopped
Spring onion, finely sliced
1/4 cup extra olive oil
Juice and rind of 1/2 lemon
50 ml chardonnay vinegar
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1/4 fresh fennel bulb - diced and core removed
2 pickled gherkins, diced
3-4 tbsp mayonnaise - such as Best Food.
2 shallots - diced
Fresh dill and tarragon, chopped
Juice and rind of 1 lemon.
Fish and Chips
Step 1
In a bowl whisk egg white to loosen, add flour and beer (or soda water). Whisk to combine ensuring there are no lumps. You may need to add more beer to achieve correct consistency (not too thick, and not too thin. If you can draw a number “8” in the batter the consistency is correct). Set aside.
Step 2
Tartare Sauce. Combine all ingredients, season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Step 3
Tomato Salsa. Combine all ingredients together, but do not mix until serving.
Step 4
Heat deep fryer to 150 degrees, add chips and blanch for five minutes - or until slightly cooked. Remove, spread chips out evenly on paper towels to drain.
Step 5
Increase fryer temp 180-190, place chips back in and cook until golden brown and crunchy - about 5-10 mins. Drain and remove, place chips in warm oven ( around 130 degrees) to keep crispy.
Step 5
Place fish fillets in batter one by one to coat and fry at 180 until golden. When placing fish in fryer, keep moving around, to ensure fish will not stick on basket. Depending on your fish and thickness size, blue cod takes about 5 mins to cook. Look for crispy / golden appearance. Coat fish and chips with a layer of salt. Turn off deep fryer - very important.
Season fish and chips with sea salt, serve immediately with fresh lemon wedges, Tomato Salsa, and Tartare Sauce.