Cooking with Nick & Scott: Traditional fish & chips

Learn how to make a British staple with Dubai chefs Nick Alvis and Scott Price…

Watch Nick and Scott make golden fish fillets with triple-cooked chips, mushy peas and homemade tartare sauce.

Traditional fish & chips

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 3 hours

Cooking Time: 30 mins

Fish and chips (2 portions)

2 fillets of skinless and pin-boned haddock, cod or sherry fillet (about 150-200g each)

Batter (to be made 1 hour in advance) 

• 450g plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 10g bicarbonate of soda
• 30g white vinegar
• 650g iced water

Method

Weigh the salt and flour into a bowl, add the soda on top, then pour the vinegar onto soda to react. Add a little water first and whisk, then add more water gradually until desired consistency. Chill and rest for at least 1 hour.

Crushed peas (6 portions)

• 30g butter
• 400g frozen good-quality peas
• Pinch of salt to taste
• 1g bicarbonate of soda
• Drop of water

Method

Melt the butter and when it starts to foam add the peas, then salt and soda, stir and crush as soon as possible adding a drop of water if seeming a little dry, but not always necessary. Taste and then chill on a tray, cooling as quickly as possible to retain the colour. Set aside until ready to serve.

Tartare sauce

• 50g red onion, finely diced
• 5g parsley, chopped
• 15g capers, chopped
• 50g gherkin, finely diced
• 150g mayonnaise (use Hellmans or make your own)

Method

Mix all ingredients together and keep to one side.

Chips (allow several hours for this process or can be made in stages starting the previous day)

• 1kg Maris Piper or netted potatoes
• 51/2 litres vegetable oil for deep-frying
• Sea salt
• Malt vinegar

Method

Cut potatoes to desired size, wash for a few minutes and place in a saucepan of lightly salted water. Bring to the boil and simmer until edges just start to break. Gently strain and chill on a tray. Preheat enough vegetable oil to 130°C in a pan deep enough to hold your chips, then in 2 batches fry the chips until you get a bubbly crust on the outside, remove and chill again.

To serve

Heat the oil back up, but this time to 180°C. Warm the peas in a small saucepan. Fry the chips until golden and almost crispy, remove on to a tray, then lightly coat the fish in flour, whisk the batter (to make sure its properly mixed) and dip the fish (shaking off excess batter). Hold the battered fish in the oil one piece at a time for 10 or so seconds until the fish starts to float and then let go or it will just drop straight to the bottom and stick. Repeat process for all the fish and when golden add the chips back in to the oil and crisp up the fish with the chips. Meanwhile place the peas on to the plate. Tip onto a tray and season immediately while the chips are still glistening with oil so the salt sticks, then sprinkle with vinegar or a squeeze of lemon and serve.

Mayonnaise

• 1 egg
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 400ml vegetable oil

Method

In a blender add the egg, mustard, salt and vinegar. With the motor running, slowly add the vegetable oil until emulsified and smooth.