The Art of Fish and Chips: A Midwest Twist

Growing up in the Midwest, I never had a lot of experience with seafood, being landlocked and all. However, my house was always filled with the sounds of lively discussions and arguments, especially on Fridays during Lent. You see, as Catholics, we were forbidden from eating meat on Fridays, but fish was a different story altogether. It wasn't uncommon to hear our parents or grandparents swear about burning down a building or getting into fights if they ate meat on that holy day.

But when it came to fish, things were different. We didn't eat much of it at all, mainly because the Midwest isn't exactly known for its seafood. However, there was one exception - lake perch. You could catch some nice trout and salmon out in Lake Michigan, but we mostly stuck to the perch. It wasn't until I moved away that I realized how limited our fish options were.

Now, when it comes to making a vinaigrette base for our slaw, we like to keep things simple. We start with a little mustard, some fresh lemon juice, salt, and pepper. The mustard helps emulsify the oil and lemon juice, creating a tangy and refreshing flavor that's perfect for balancing out the richness of the fish. We let it sit for a bit, allowing the flavors to meld together like old friends.

For our beer batter, we use a traditional ratio of flour, baking powder, salt, and egg. The key is to whisk up the egg with the flour slowly, making sure everything is well combined before adding in the rest of the ingredients. And of course, we need a cold beer - Irish stout is our go-to choice for this recipe. It adds a unique flavor that's hard to replicate with regular beer.

Now that we have our slaw and batter ready, it's time to cook up some fish. I've got a piece of cod here that's perfect for frying. We cut it into thin pieces and dredge them in flour before dipping them into the batter. The key is to get the excess off, so we don't end up with too much oil on our hands.

As we fry the fish, you'll notice it starts to bubble and sizzle. This is a good sign - it means the batter is working its magic and creating that perfect crispy exterior and flaky interior. Once they're done, we place them on a paper towel-lined plate to drain off any excess oil.

But the fun isn't over yet. We still need to season our fish liberally with salt, pepper, and maybe some extra paprika if you like it. And of course, we can't forget about the tartar sauce - that's what takes our fish and chips from good to great. With its tangy flavor and crunchy texture, it's the perfect accompaniment to our crispy fried fish.

Now that everything is ready, let's build these cod sliders. We'll start by buttering up some parker house rolls - you can't have a classic fish and chips dish without them. Then we'll place a perfectly cooked piece of battered fish on top of each roll, followed by a generous dollop of slaw.

And the final touch? A slice of that lovely tartar sauce. It's the crowning glory of our dish, adding just the right amount of zing to balance out all the flavors. As we take our first bite, you'll notice everything comes together in perfect harmony - the crunch of the batter, the tang of the slaw, and the richness of the fish all combine to create a truly unforgettable experience.

In this article, I want to highlight the art of making fish and chips from scratch. It may seem like a simple dish, but trust me, it's not. From the selection of the freshest ingredients to the precise ratio of flour and egg in our beer batter, every detail matters. And when you take that first bite, all your hard work will pay off.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enall right today i am making a sandwich out of a classic fish and chips dish we're gonna serve it on a soft parker house roll we're gonna put this beautiful fennel slaw on top get to this fennel here right cut it in half get those sides off make sure you core it nice little quick v-cut just like that and shave it nice and thin you want to match the texture of the cabbage keep the fronds if you want we'll use these as a garnish later so hold on to them a little parsley in there too for a little vibrancy awesome fresh herbs are always good plus we're hitting the color spectrum we got some green we got some red we got some white our fish is gonna be golden and if there's a color we can apply to our tartar sauce it would be the color of creaminess get it on there you know i know you're saying you know the midwest is not big on fish we didn't eat a lot of fish growing up you know we're land locked we do have the lake there you can get some nice lake perch out of there there's some trout some salmon sometimes deeper in the lake but uh traditionally we don't eat the seafood like the coast do so you know the only time we would eat fish as a kid was usually on fridays during lent when you were forbidden you know by the catholic religion to eat meat on fridays right my house you could swear you you know burn down a building get in fights but hey if you ate meat on friday forget about it we're all burning up in the afterlife all right we're gonna make the vinaigrette base here for our slaw got a little mustard some fresh lemon juice in there a little salt a little pepper add your oil slowly that mustard's gonna help emulsify the oil and lemon juice let's taste it right if you ain't tasting you ain't cooking mmm very tangy lemon and fish match made in heaven give that a nice stir we're gonna set it aside let it marry like all good slaws they need a little time to develop there wonderful got a beer some flour two cups right we're gonna use a little baking powder so a teaspoon of that it's typical ratio some salt in there too right season it you want your batter tasting good crack an egg right in the middle there very nice grab a whisk kind of whisk up that egg around the flour first so you can incorporate it slowly and then a nice frosty cold one we're using irish stout it's a must for any fish and chip beer batter you can use regular beer if you don't have this but this just gives that certain something that caramely flavor that caramely color mix that up beautiful right from the fish monger i got this piece of cod very mild fish not too fishy people use that word a lot when using fish unfortunately like it's a bad thing but this takes perfect to frying perfect to breading perfect to battering when you bite into it you can see all those individual flakes separating i love it i love it love it love it it's a mild fish so don't be afraid to season it liberally okay now we're gonna cut it right down the middle in half now using a little geometry cut that half and half and that half and half so we have eight even pieces all right first things first into the dredge helps the batter adhere to the fish let the excess drip off and gently place it in the oil right it'll start bubbling immediately so keep going with it we want these to kind of cook at the same speed that is number four place it into the hot oil right you don't want to drop it from up here thinking you're you know some basketball star check your fish my fish is starting to sing to me the sound just changed that means something's happening drain it put it right on the paper towel give it another little seasoning here right we're seasoning in layers awesome and i'm going to hold it in the oven at 200 on a wire rack but all that hot air circulate around it if you put it on a flat surface it's just gonna get soggy right whatever piece of fish is touching the flat surface is gonna get gooey right it's fried food it's supposed to be crisp this way you can do it in batches make as many as you want my inspiration probably helped lunch the career of the sandwich king made me into a sandwich king when i was just a little sandwich prince right what are we gonna do with this we are going to butter it parker house rolls love butter nice hot griddle let's build these cod sliders huh in the oven 200. look at that perfectly crispy we got our soft parker house rolls right they've been buttered they've been griddled put one of those perfectly cooked battered fish right on there next our lovely slaw remember this was red cabbage fennel parsley tossed with a lemon vinaigrette look how beautiful that looks already we haven't even finished it yet of course our tartar sauce remember we have worcestershire in there those briny capers some pickled relish for some sweetness get a lot on there we did a lot of work let's taste everything got my fennel frond little extra that anise flavor perfect and of course we take that top bun and lay it right on there look at that cap it and spear it i'm gonna take a bite come on it's every flavor of a classic fish and chips dish on a soft bun that tartar sauce is so tangy the slaw it's got that black licorice anise flavor youall right today i am making a sandwich out of a classic fish and chips dish we're gonna serve it on a soft parker house roll we're gonna put this beautiful fennel slaw on top get to this fennel here right cut it in half get those sides off make sure you core it nice little quick v-cut just like that and shave it nice and thin you want to match the texture of the cabbage keep the fronds if you want we'll use these as a garnish later so hold on to them a little parsley in there too for a little vibrancy awesome fresh herbs are always good plus we're hitting the color spectrum we got some green we got some red we got some white our fish is gonna be golden and if there's a color we can apply to our tartar sauce it would be the color of creaminess get it on there you know i know you're saying you know the midwest is not big on fish we didn't eat a lot of fish growing up you know we're land locked we do have the lake there you can get some nice lake perch out of there there's some trout some salmon sometimes deeper in the lake but uh traditionally we don't eat the seafood like the coast do so you know the only time we would eat fish as a kid was usually on fridays during lent when you were forbidden you know by the catholic religion to eat meat on fridays right my house you could swear you you know burn down a building get in fights but hey if you ate meat on friday forget about it we're all burning up in the afterlife all right we're gonna make the vinaigrette base here for our slaw got a little mustard some fresh lemon juice in there a little salt a little pepper add your oil slowly that mustard's gonna help emulsify the oil and lemon juice let's taste it right if you ain't tasting you ain't cooking mmm very tangy lemon and fish match made in heaven give that a nice stir we're gonna set it aside let it marry like all good slaws they need a little time to develop there wonderful got a beer some flour two cups right we're gonna use a little baking powder so a teaspoon of that it's typical ratio some salt in there too right season it you want your batter tasting good crack an egg right in the middle there very nice grab a whisk kind of whisk up that egg around the flour first so you can incorporate it slowly and then a nice frosty cold one we're using irish stout it's a must for any fish and chip beer batter you can use regular beer if you don't have this but this just gives that certain something that caramely flavor that caramely color mix that up beautiful right from the fish monger i got this piece of cod very mild fish not too fishy people use that word a lot when using fish unfortunately like it's a bad thing but this takes perfect to frying perfect to breading perfect to battering when you bite into it you can see all those individual flakes separating i love it i love it love it love it it's a mild fish so don't be afraid to season it liberally okay now we're gonna cut it right down the middle in half now using a little geometry cut that half and half and that half and half so we have eight even pieces all right first things first into the dredge helps the batter adhere to the fish let the excess drip off and gently place it in the oil right it'll start bubbling immediately so keep going with it we want these to kind of cook at the same speed that is number four place it into the hot oil right you don't want to drop it from up here thinking you're you know some basketball star check your fish my fish is starting to sing to me the sound just changed that means something's happening drain it put it right on the paper towel give it another little seasoning here right we're seasoning in layers awesome and i'm going to hold it in the oven at 200 on a wire rack but all that hot air circulate around it if you put it on a flat surface it's just gonna get soggy right whatever piece of fish is touching the flat surface is gonna get gooey right it's fried food it's supposed to be crisp this way you can do it in batches make as many as you want my inspiration probably helped lunch the career of the sandwich king made me into a sandwich king when i was just a little sandwich prince right what are we gonna do with this we are going to butter it parker house rolls love butter nice hot griddle let's build these cod sliders huh in the oven 200. look at that perfectly crispy we got our soft parker house rolls right they've been buttered they've been griddled put one of those perfectly cooked battered fish right on there next our lovely slaw remember this was red cabbage fennel parsley tossed with a lemon vinaigrette look how beautiful that looks already we haven't even finished it yet of course our tartar sauce remember we have worcestershire in there those briny capers some pickled relish for some sweetness get a lot on there we did a lot of work let's taste everything got my fennel frond little extra that anise flavor perfect and of course we take that top bun and lay it right on there look at that cap it and spear it i'm gonna take a bite come on it's every flavor of a classic fish and chips dish on a soft bun that tartar sauce is so tangy the slaw it's got that black licorice anise flavor you\n"