Guilt Free Fish and Chips

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Guilt Free Fish and Chips (serves 4)

You will need

A heavy bottom skillet pan and a cooking thermometer
175g all-purpose flour
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
200ml sparkling water
1 egg white
550g haddock fillets
4 Desiree potatoes
400ml grapeseed oil

The kitchen countdown

1 hour
Peel the spuds and slice lengthwise into ½-inch-thick slices, then into ½-inch-thick sticks. Rinse well, place in a large pot, cover with water, season and place over medium heat. Gently poach for 7 minutes. Drain, then place the chips in a single layer on a clean tea towel. Cover with another towel and gently press down to dry them. Any remaining water left will interfere with the frying process.

48 minutes
While the chips are drying, prepare the fish batter. Mix the flour, cornstarch and salt in a bowl large enough to accommodate the fish fillets later. Measure 3 tbsp of the flour mixture and stick them on a plate. Add the baking powder, cold fizzy water and egg white to the bowl mix. Stir, but don't go mad on the mixing. Lumpy batter is fine. In fact, use a chop stick to stir so you don't overdo it.

38 minutes
Pour the grapeseed oil into a heavy-bottomed pot. Make sure it's no more than a third full. Now heat the oil to 190˚C degrees (use the digital thermometer). Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Rinse a fillet then pat dry with a paper towel. Season then coat with the flour you kept aside. Now dip the fish in the batter mix. You may need to add a bit more water to the batter if it's too thick to coat the fish.

25 minutes
When the oil is at 190˚C, lower the fish in. It will spit, so wear an oven glove and use tongs. Fry the fillet for 4 minutes, 2 minutes each side. When it's done, place on a greased baking sheet and tuck it in the oven to keep warm. Allow the oil to reheat for a minute before adding the next fillet. Reduce the heat of the oil to 175˚C then add the chips a handful at a time, frying for 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl lined with a paper towel. Take the fish out of the oven and serve your culinary tour de force with a wedge of lemon.