Battered King George whiting, chips, tartare

Serves 4

• Ingredients

  8 x 80g King George whiting fillet
  600g chips
  1.5-2L of vegetable oil
  3 tbsp of self-raising flour
  2 lemons
  Pinch of table salt
  Pinch of salt flake

  Tartare sauce

  1 cup whole egg mayonnaise
  1 tbsp red onion (finely diced)
  1 tbsp baby capers (drained and finely chopped)
  1 tbsp cornichons (finely chopped)
  2 tsp white balsamic vinegar
  1 tsp tarragon (finely chopped)
  1 tsp chives (finely chopped)
  1 tsp dill (finely chopped)
  1 tsp parsley (finely chopped)
  Juice of half a lemon
  Pinch of salt flake, fresh cracked black pepper

  Beer batter

  1 bottle beer (fridge cold, not dark or strong flavour beer)
  1 cup self-raising flour
  Pinch of table salt, white pepper

• Method

  Tartare sauce

  1. Mix all ingredients until well combined.

  Beer batter

  1. Pour beer in a mixing bowl, whisk in flour until just combined, do not over work the batter.

  2. Season with salt and pepper.

  3. Keep in fridge until needed.

  To serve

  1. Cut lemons into cheeks.

  2. Pin bone and pat dry the whiting fillets.

  3. Fill a large pot with about 6cm of oil, bring it up to 190C over medium high heat. Make sure pot is tall enough (at least twice the height of the oil) for oil to expand when food is dropped in.

  4. Fry chips in batches until golden. Drain well and toss in bowl with table salt. Keep somewhere warm for later.

  5. Coat whiting fillets in self raising flour and shake off the excess.

  6. Dip fillets in beer batter for an even coating, let excess batter drip off slightly.

  7. Carefully lower battered fillets into fryer and let go away from you one piece at a time. Fry in batches, 2-3 fillets at a time, do not overcrowd the pot. Let cook for 2-3 minutes on each side of the fillets or until golden brown.

  8. Let fillets drain well on paper towel before serve.

  9. Put chips on plate, then fillets on top, sprinkle with salt flake.

  10. Garnish with lemon cheek and tartare sauce.