Do you deep fry Fish

depends how good you are ,cod is expensive ,only reason fish is put in batter is to protect it whilst cooking ,keep the oil out with a protective coating and let it cook in its own oils/juice .

if you aint good at doing the  batter and deep frying and  it falls to bits its an expensive fail ,better to do it in breadcrumbs and in the frying pan or oven imo.

like kippers for breakfast ....full of flavour ,the proper smoked if you can get are exellent and not expensive .

no point buying expensive fish and destroying it ,smoked cod is ok as well but you cant beat fresh cod/haddock

Yes - all the time...just soda water and plain flour - and fresh oil. Best food in the world.

Haddock...

My brother-in-law won't touch cod as he believes it's the scavenger of the ocean and eats all sorts of sh*te (the fish, not my brother-in-law). Haddock's the fish of choice in Scotland.

Hee hee...it figures...I'm in Scotland...

Love fish and chips but rarely have them, as not the best thing for your health, and you only have to witness the regulars,
and the state they are in to confirm this!

I might have just a fish every six weeks or so, but whilst enjoying it always feel greasy and defiled afterwards.

Incidentally why do we say "just a fish please" when what we get is a tiny piece of a fish?

Take off the puffed up batter and there is precious little left.

My brother-in-law won't touch cod as he believes it's the scavenger of the ocean

never heard that one but I know mackerel are.

aye heard that stuff  ...back in the day the best rod fishing spots were always at the sewage outflow pipes ,maybe just because thats where people could get out to fish deep water or maybe all the effluent fed other stuff ...not sure but heard it many times .

cod are not scavengers ,they are hunters but feed off the bottom when young i think ,they eat a lot of worms ,crabs ect off the bottom .but aint scavengers

Right....that's it. Look what you've done now!

Off to Morrisons in an hour, and will head straight for the fish counter.

Cod in beer batter for me later. Thing is, I know the beef dripping gives flavour, but I will eat a generous portion, fried in vegetable oil,
without guilt and for a lot less dosh!

A 1976 survey of "housewives" in Britain by the White Fish Authority demonstrated a reluctance to depart from cod, haddock or salmon. Less than 10% of its 1,931 respondents had ever bought mackerel and only 3% did so regularly. Many fishmongers did not display or even stock it.

"Many housewives had heard that mackerel was a scavenger or that it had a 'bad reputation'," the authority noted.

Mackerel's image problem goes back further, says Dr Robert Prescott, vice-president of the Scottish Fisheries Museum Trust.

"There was folklore suggesting mackerel fed on the corpses of dead sailors. It takes a long time to convince the great British public to change."

With the demise of so many proper fishmongers it's become hard to buy decent fish. Waitrose is now the only supermarket I would trust with fresh fish. I wont buy anything from Tesco and Sainsburys and Morrisons  have sold me stuff that was foul.
I've never had a problem with Waitrose apart from having to get there early before they sell out.
Luckily for Mc Moonbeam, like me, he get into Birmingham Fish Market which is fish heaven.

Mackerel is a very healthy fish to eat ,very oily and good for you ,fresh and under the grill in steaks is good ,you just cant eat a lot of it .


by far and away the WORST fish you can eat health wise is FARMED SCOTTISH SALMON ...very dangerous stuff ,carcinogenic as well

Don't know why the concern about what fish eat! Maybe that is why Cod is so good.

We don't have a problem with pork (unless we happen to be Jewish or Muslim).

mackerel is a lovely fish just make sure it's fresh because if it isn't you'll need loads of toilet paper

So I got two nice pieces of "Cod Loin" total 356gr for the princely sum of £6.57.

That sounds a lot, but they are a fair bit bigger than the typical in fish and chips, and we're talking about the best cut of Cod, not any old Haddock!

Looking forward to cooking one tonight with beer batter and maybe even "twice battered" dependent on how it looks.

Cheers guys
I've always loved a nice cod & chips in batter but you just don't seem to get them like you did from the chip shop back in the days you used to get a Huge piece of thick fluffy cod in the most awesome batter , just looking at one in the hot counter would make your mouth melt
I don't mind haddock but much prefer a good cod , though a bad one there's probably not much in it , never really eaten mackerel it just sounds a bit dirty to me so would never buy it

The nicest fish to buy is the smoked yellow cod imo though i don't make my own batter up , maybe i should

Not keen on the beer batter though tbh think it really spoils a nice cod

Hope you enjoy though & was worth all the effort Aunty

haddock has more taste than cod imo.

Agreed. Always amazes me that it's neglected at my local fish n chip shop where I have to wait for a piece to be cooked.

Oh bloody hell another love in for the haddock snobs.  I bet they all delight in telling people how the book was better than the film too.

Cod is God.

Not sure if I could tell the difference between haddock and cod but I do know that Hugh Fearnley Wearnley can shove his sustainable pollack up his curly headed @rsehole... complete shyte.

How do you make a good batter & how are you cooking them Aunty

Yeah eton w@nker telling the plebs to eat pollack.  Fk off.

Didn't have last night as had lots of my home made curry left from Sunday.
Still got some left so will freeze that as has to be F&C tonight.

Lots of variants on batter but mine is typically...

50gr Flour

50gr Cornflour

75ml Lager

75ml Sparkling Water (needs to be really cold so goes in freezer for ten minutes or so).

Whisk all together and the refrigerate for 30 mins

Dry the fillets and coat in flour

Because I am only doing one I will use just 1/2 litre of vegetable oil heated to 200 degrees

Keep testing by putting in a drop of batter which should cook & brown instantly.

Now batter the fish and lower carefully into the oil

Depending on how it's looking I may batter the fish a second time.

Cooking time will be approx 8 minutes, as I have quite thick pieces.

Didn't have last night as had lots of my home made curry left from Sunday.
Still got some left so will freeze that as has to be F&C tonight.

Lots of variants on batter but mine is typically...

50gr Flour

50gr Cornflour

75ml Lager

75ml Sparkling Water (needs to be really cold so goes in freezer for ten minutes or so).

Whisk all together and the refrigerate for 30 mins

Dry the fillets and coat in flour

Because I am only doing one I will use just 1/2 litre of vegetable oil heated to 200 degrees

Keep testing by putting in a drop of batter which should cook & brown instantly.

Now batter the fish and lower carefully into the oil

Depending on how it's looking I may batter the fish a second time.

Cooking time will be approx 8 minutes, as I have quite thick pieces.

A good thick Cod-Piece always seems to impress the ladies! 

Just looking at the menu at "The Old Mill"as taking some American friends in July.
.
http://www.chefandbrewer.com/pub/old-mill-brighouse/s6818/

Why do they have to "poncify" descriptions of food when there is nothing worth saying but come out with stuff like this.......

"Hand-Battered Cod & Chips"....so how else are you going to do it?

By machine in a factory.  Lots of food is frozen believe it or not.

Yes of course

One seen on a tv add recently ..."with real herbs"!

When did stuff start being roast-ed?