Monday, December 9, 2013 – This week’s episode of cooking class was about fish. Incidentally, all the classes about cooking techniques were front-loaded. Most of the later classes are about ingredients. So I was trying to find a fish dish that I could do to learn a new cooking technique. So I decided it was time to deep fry something.
It’s pretty straightforward, really. I dipped fish in buttermilk, then rolled them in flour. The flour was also mixed with a dash of salt, garlic powder, some Old Bay, and minced rosemary, because all of those things are awesome.
My fish of choice was true cod. Because the recipe suggested cod or halibut (both of which are common frying fish), and cod was the cheapest.
So I don’t have a deep fryer. It would take too much space and be difficult to clean. So I ended up building a deep-frying contraption out of a 6 qt stock pot and a candy thermometer. Which is actually fairly common.
(Not pictured: The actual deep-frying action.)
As it turns out, my induction range barely has enough power to bring the oil to 350 F. It took 30 minutes to get there, and as soon as I dropped in the fish, the temperature droped to 300 F. (So my fears of turning on the stove and leaving it there, while justified, were unnecessary.)
Alas, I’m not a proper British chippy. According to Wikipedia, fish and chips are served with salt and vinegar. I sprinkled kosher salt on mine and squeezed a lemon slice. (And I thought about using a seasoning salt for the next time around.) But it was still delicious and crispy (no tartar sauce needed), so I guess it’s all right. Now I just need to deep fry some potatoes, some chicken, a candy bar…