Crispy Battered Fish

Last night not knowing what to make, not feeling well with MS, and looking for something quick and easy- I decided to try my hand at making battered fish. So I "googled" it looking for a suitable gluten free recipe. I must also note that my kids are not huge fans of eating fish. My daughter especially so. I figured that battered fish would be a good way of packaging the fish so my children would be more apt to gobble it up without complaint. Though still skeptical, my son and daughter did end up liking the end result. My daughter in particular was surprised that she liked it as well as she did.
So here it is- from About.com:   http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/breadingsandcoatings/r/Coatings.htm

Gluten Free Fish Batter

This gluten free beer-battered fish fry batter produces crisp, light fried fish. It makes a delicious gluten-free batter for onion rings and shrimp too! If you don't like beer batter just substitute club soda for the beer. (Not having gf beer or club soda on hand, I substituted with Gingerale and cut my sugar down by half or more since I thought it may be too sweet otherwise.)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Ingredients:

• Oil for Frying -Use an oil designed for high heat frying, preferably peanut or coconut oil-(I used mostly peanut oil, but needed a bit more so topped it up with canola oil.)
• 2 pounds fresh fish fillets (I used Basa because my husband went crazy buying it on a sale- but though it definitely was not dry, the end result was a bit mushy. Basa I think is too delicate a fish. I maybe would recommend maybe cod or haddock instead since it tends to firm up more when cooked.)
• 1 cup all purpose gluten-free all purpose flour mix (I used our local gf baking mix)
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon gf baking powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon cayenne powder (I did used the cayenne- it was good and it wasn't overpowering. Next time I am going to try maybe smoked paprika or ground ancho chili pepper.)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 ounce bottle of gluten-free beer, or 12 ounces of club soda (I used Gingerale and it worked fine.)

Preparation:

Step#1:

Combine cornstarch, gluten free all purpose flour, baking powder, cayenne pepper, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper in a large, plastic zip lock bag.

 

Step#2:

Shake the bag to thoroughly mix the dry ingredients. Pour this mixture into a medium sized bowl.

 

Step#3:

Add gluten free beer or club soda and mix until the batter is smooth, and not too thick or thin. Add more liquid if the batter is too thick. (You will need a whisk for this since the corn starch doesn't want to blend well if a spoon is used. Also make sure you incorporate your liquid well before adding more. Mine turned out maybe a tad thin, but still ended up tasty and crisp.)

 

Step#4:
Dip fish fillets in batter, making sure both sides are coated. Hold above the bowl to let excess batter drip off. (This is where if you make it too thin that the batter will want to run off too much.)
 
Step#5:
Fry in hot oil until golden brown. (I had my gas burner on high the whole time while cooking. I used a deeper pot to help prevent spatters. To test your oil, use the end of a wooden spoon- hold it touching the bottom of the pot. If bubbles appear around the spoon then the oil is hot enough to begin cooking. When done cooking, I placed my fish on a cooling rack for cookies that sat on top of a cookie sheet. That way the oil can drip off and the batter doesn't become soggy. Place in a warm oven until ready to serve.)

Enjoy!