Basic Fish Batter

By Chula King · May 13, 2022 · Updated July 4, 2024 53 Comments

Basic fish batter contains only four simple ingredients but produces the crispiest battered fish that you can imagine. Unlike many fish batter recipes, this basic fish batter contains no beer. Also, it doesn’t contain spices that will mask the delicate taste of the fish.

The Best Fish To Use

Traditionally, at least in the UK, cod and haddock are used for battered fish, i.e., fish and chips. One reason is the availability. Another reason is that both of these fish have a mild taste and white flesh with a large flaky texture.

For fried battered fish then, both cod and haddock are excellent choices wherever you live. Other fish that works well when battered and fried includes grouper and scamp.

Unless you live in an area where the fish is locally caught, your best bet is to purchase the fish frozen. This is especially true for cod and haddock, both of which are cold water fish. The reason is that the large fishing boats are equipped to package and freeze the fish during the fishing expedition, ensuring the freshest tasting fish possible.

The best way to tell if fish if fresh is to smell it and look at it. Fresh fish has a delicate, sweet smell and the flesh has a translucent look. If the fish smells fishy, then the fish muscle has started to break down. This is true whether frozen or purchased from a fish market or grocery store.

Personally, I like to purchase frozen wild caught Alaskan or Norwegian cod.

Why Use Vinegar or Lemon on Fish

If you’ve ever ordered fish and chips you’ve likely been asked whether you want malt vinegar. In addition, you may have noticed that fish is often served with lemon slices.

Why is this? The answer has to do with science!

Fish contains something called amines. Amines are chemicals that are produced when bacteria start to break down the amino acids in the fish. Amines are similar to ammonia in that they are alkaline and produce an off-putting odor and flavor. Therefore, as the fish ages, the amines cause the fishy taste and smell.

Both vinegar and lemon are acidic. When added to aged fish that is alkaline, vinegar and lemon neutralize the amines and get rid of the fishy taste and smell! Tarter sauce has the same neutralizing impact.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Simple: With only four ingredients, this recipe is amazingly simple to make. In addition, it uses ingredients that you likely already have on hand.

Basic: This is a basic fish batter with the only seasoning being salt. Therefore, the batter will not mask the delicate taste of the fish.

Versatile: This basic fish batter can also be used to make delicious battered shrimp, battered onion rings and battered potatoes.

How To Make the Basic Fish Batter

Start with four basic ingredients – all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt and water. I said that this was basic!

Ingredients needed for basic fish batter.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

Whisking together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

Next, add the water to the dry ingredients and whisk everything together until the batter is smooth. That’s it!

How To Make Battered Fried Fish

A key to making battered fried fish that is crispy, but not greasy is to ensure that the oil used for frying is hot. Therefore, as a first step, I heated oil in a skillet over medium-high heat to 360°F.

Once the oil had reached 360°F, I dipped the fish in the batter, and added the battered fish to the skillet. I used wild caught Alaskan cod which I purchased frozen from Publix.

Adding battered fish to pan with hot oil.

I cooked the fish until it was golden brown on the first side. This took about 5 minutes.

Then, I turned the fish and cooked it for another five minutes or so until the other side was golden brown.

Once the fish was golden brown, I removed it from the oil and drained it well on paper towels.

Since it’s only the two of us, I made two pieces of the battered fried fish.

Dinner tonight was fish and chips in the UK tradition. Therefore, I served the fried battered fish with mushy peas and fries, a.k.a. chips. In the true UK fashion, I included malt vinegar on the side.

Even though the fish had no fishy taste at all, the Master Taster still added malt vinegar. The reason is that he likes the taste.

The Master Taster, who is from the UK, commented that the fish was as good as he remembered growing up in the UK. I agree that it was as good if not better than what I had ordered in the UK. Yum!

Recipe Tips

This basic fish batter should be relatively thick. For example, it should be thicker than pancake batter. If you prefer a thicker batter, either reduce the amount of water or increase the amount of flour to achieve your desired consistency.

Unless you can purchase locally caught fish at a local fish market, your best bet for freshness is to purchase good quality frozen fish and thaw it right before cooking. My favorite fish to use is frozen wild caught Alaskan or Norwegian cod.

I like to use peanut oil for frying because of its high temperature quality. However, you can also use regular vegetable oil. I would not, however use olive oil in this recipe.

If you have any unused basic fish batter, I would recommend discarding it.

For traditional fish and chips, serve the batter fried fish with mushy peas, French fries (a.k.a. chips) and malt vinegar on the side.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you use beer in the batter rather than water?

Often, fish batter such as this uses beer rather than water. In fact, I historically used beer in the batter. However, one time, I didn’t have beer, so I tried using plain water. It worked like a charm and tasted just as good. Bottom line, if you want to use beer, you can, but it’s not at all necessary based on my experience.

What about using club soda in place of the water?

In some circles, there is a view that adding a fizzy liquid like club soda (or beer) enhances the batter. My experience is that you can use club soda if you like. However, I have not been able to discern any difference from just using regular water.

Shouldn’t the fish be fried in a deep fryer?

I used to use a deep fryer when making this fried battered fish. However, I’ve found that’s not really necessary. In the deep fryer, the fish tends to float to the top, so it needs to be turned during cooking. Using a regular deep skillet works just as well, at least for me.

Isn’t the batter bland with just salt?

My experience is that this batter works perfectly if the fish is fresh and doesn’t need any additional seasoning that would mask its delicate taste. If the fish isn’t fresh, then you’d be better off using a highly seasoned batter!

Isn’t it better to purchase the fish at a local fish market rather than using frozen fish?

Unless the fish is locally caught, the fish available at a local fish market is likely to have been frozen and then thawed for display. Therefore, my preference is to use frozen fish and thaw it right before use.

Can the unused batter be refrigerated and used at a different time?

I am not a fan of refrigerating the unused batter. The reason is that it will ultimately contain a fishy taste. Therefore, I just discard what I don’t use.

Can a different vinegar be used on the fish?

Malt vinegar is traditionally served with fish and chips. However, any vinegar will work, e.g., balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, etc.

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