Beer Battered Fish

Being Australian and ice cold beer are almost synonymous on a hot Summer's day. You get home from a long, hard day at work, sweaty and dirty, and you open the fridge to reveal a glistening glass stubbie of delicious, golden ale calling your name. You crack it open and neck it one (or so my Dad does..he claims the first one doesn't even touch the sides). Onto the next one, and you've gotta get some dinner together. You throw some fish fillets in flour while you crack an egg into a bowl, mixing flour into it.

This batter would do just fine. But as you stand over your batter bowl, holding your beer, you think - a splash won't hurt. So in it goes, a nice long stream of your fizzy, bitter beverage and you keep mixing. Yep, that'll do it.

In goes the fish and back out into a pan of hot oil. Your fish bubbles along and you flip it over. The fish turns golden - well, of course it does, you've just made the most delicious batter using the best golden liquid around. Genius, you think to yourself.

Out onto a plate and served with salad or crunchy chips or both. Why not? You worked hard today.

Crispy and crunchy, your beer-battered fish is a winner. You know you're onto something with this, you wonder why it hasn't been done before as you wash it all down with the rest of your honey-coloured thinking juice (beer).

And that, my friends, is the birth of beer batter..

..or at least I like to think it is!

Beer Battered Fish

Ingredients
1.5 cups of plain flour
1/2 cup corn flour for coating the fish in 375mL bottle of beer
1 egg/Fish (this batter is enough to coat around 1 kg), firm white, eg. flathead, barramundi, blue grenadier
2 tbs paprika
Pinch of salt
2 cups of frying oil of choice

Method
Whisk egg in a bowl, then add flour in and mix a little - it will clump at this point
Add in the beer, whisk well. Don't worry if there are lumps, it turns out fine anyway
Add in the salt and paprika and mix well and set aside
Place the fish fillets and corn flour into a freezer bag and knot it
Shake the bag until all the fish is coated in flour
Shake off fish and dunk into batter then quickly place it in hot oil, turning when golden brown Once golden brown all over, drain on some paper towel
Enjoy with a salad or chips