Nothing caps a day of limiting out on Oregon Coast lingcod and rockfish like enjoying the catch with a feast of beer-battered fish and chips.
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| Beer-battered rockfish and lingcod served with homemade tarter and cocktail sauce. |
Deep fried fish is not only delicious, but also quick and easy to make.
To ensure the fish cooks evenly and quickly, cut the fillets into smaller pieces. Four- to five-inch sections works well. Examine the fillets to make sure there are no bones. Pat dry with a paper towel.
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| Season flower with salt and other seasonings, such as Johnny's or creole seasoning. |
In a bowl, mix flower with salt and other seasonings. I like Johnny's original seasoning, and Tommy Chachere's creole seasoning. Two to three cups of flour will suffice.
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| Roll the fillets in the seasoned flour. |
Roll the pieces of fish in the seasoned flour. You can roll them in a bowl, or put the seasoned flour in a plastic bag and shake with the fillets. Flour the fish in batches or two or three pieces.
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| Floured fillets. |
Once the fish is rolled in seasoned flour, the beer batter will stick to it better instead of parting from the fish as it is deep fried. The seasoned flour will also give a little kick to rockfish fillets, which have a mild flavor.
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| Add one part beer to one part flour to make the batter. |
The simplest beer batter is one part flour and one part beer. For several servings of fish, mix four cups of flour with four cups of beer. Use cold beer and keep the batter cold.
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| Stir the beer and flour until a thick batter forms. |
The key to good beer battered fish is a thin coating of cold batter, and frying in hot oil. When the cold batter hits the hot oil (350 to 400 degrees), it instantly seals the fish, making a much better finished product.
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| Drench the fish with batter and gently scrape the fillet against the inside of the bowl to give it a light coating of batter. |
Coat the pieces of fish with the batter by submerging the fillets in the cold batter and then gently rubbing the fillets against the inside of the bowl. That will give each fillet a thin coating of batter, and prevent the fish from being too oily or soggy when finished. A thin coating of batter is all that is needed.
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| Deep fry the fish in 350-400 degree oil for 4 to 5 minutes. |
Submerge the fillets, two or three at a time, in hot oil (350-400 degrees) for four to five minutes. Allow the fillets to drain for a moment and then place on a paper towel.
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| Mix lemon juice, ketchup and horseradish to make homemade cocktail sauce. |
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| Mix chopped onion, chopped dill pickles, a little mayonnaise and lemon juice to make tarter sauce. |
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| Homemade tarter and cocktail sauce. |
While the fish is cooking, I like to make homemade cocktail and tarter sauce. To make cocktail sauce, mix ketchup with pure horseradish (not horseradish sauce), and lemon juice. A little horseradish goes a long way. Add more if you like hot cocktail sauce.
To make tarter sauce, combine a little mayonnaise, chopped fresh onion and chopped dill pickle. Equal parts of each generally works well. Add a little lemon juice as you stir it.
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| Beer batter fish and chips! |
To catch a limit of lingcod and rockfish to make your own beer-battered fish, contact Capt. Andy Martin of Brookings Fishing at
www.brookingsfishing.com, or all (541) 813-1082.
