How To Make the Best, Crispiest, Beer-Battered Fish at Home

The first time I visited London, I remember insisting on getting fish and chips — I think it was at some little shop on Portobello Road since we were checking out Notting Hill. The fish was served wrapped in newspapers and bundled together with thick-cut chips (aka fries), and I devoured every single bite standing on the sidewalk (after dousing everything with malt vinegar, of course).

Beer-battered fish is such a quintessential English pub dish, and it’s one of those things that you absolutely have to eat fresh out of the fryer. Deep-fried fish waits for no one! It may seem like a hassle to deep-fry at home, but I promise you it’s worth it and not as hard as you think. You can prep the fish and batter while the oil heats up, and you’ll be rewarded with hot, crispy beer-battered fish that’s just as good as anything you can carry home from a restaurant. (Or eat on a London sidewalk.)

White fish, with its mild flavor and flaky texture, is generally the best for deep frying, but not all types of white fish are the same. Halibut is too dense and pricey; sole is too thin and delicate for the thick batter. Cod and haddock are the best choices, but flounder, pollock, or even orange roughy work well, too. I recommend asking what’s freshest at the seafood counter and then going with what fits into your budget. Instead of going with long strips, cut the fillets into 3-inch-long chunks, which are easier to batter and fry.

Beer-battered fish is exactly that: fish dipped in a beer batter and deep-fried. While the batter is simply flour and seasonings whisked together with cold beer, I’ve found that adding in some rice flour makes the coating lighter and crispier. In fact, the fish will stay crisp for up to 30 minutes after its fried.

You don’t need any fancy beer here, either — any lager will do. Just make sure it’s straight-out-of-the-fridge cold (which also means you can drink the rest!).

While most recipes just dip the fish straight into the batter, one small extra step makes it easier to coat the fish and creates a crispier coating: Coat the fish in rice flour first, then dip into the batter before frying. The batter sticks much better, and you have plenty of time to do this step while the oil’s heating up, so it doesn’t really add to the prep time.

Six cups of vegetable oil are enough to fry the fish, and you don’t need a deep fryer. Just clip a candy or deep-fry thermometer onto a Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot and you’re all set. To ensure the fish cooks and brown evenly, fry it in two batches, making sure not to stack the pieces on top of each other when you drop them in. Give them a stir and a flip occasionally, too — they’ll need about five minutes total to get beautifully golden-brown on all sides. Transfer the fish to a wire rack set inside a baking sheet to drain. This setup works better than paper towels because it lets the excess oil drip off and the bottoms don’t get soggy.

Serve the fish hot with malt vinegar or lemon wedges and creamy tartar sauce. And while this fish is best paired with fries for the ultimate fish-and-chips feast, you can also stuff it in a soft bun for a riff on the Filet-o-Fish, or pile into tortillas and top with cabbage slaw for Baja-style fish tacos.