Crunchy beer-battered fish sandwich with avocado tartare sauce

This is a an epic fish sandwich, full of crunch, with a golden fish fillet and a mayo-avocado sauce.

Crunchy beer-battered fish sandwich. Credit: Comfort Food with Spencer Watts

• makes

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 4 brioche burger buns, split and toasted
• Cos (Romaine) lettuce, shredded, to top sandwiches
• Pickled red onions (optional) (see Note)

Crunchy battered fish

• 340 g (12 oz) cod fillet, cut into four portions
• Salt, for seasoning each portion
• ½ cup plain (all-purpose) flour, for dredging
• 1.4-1.9 L (1½-2 quarts) peanut oil, for frying

Batter

• 1 cup cake flour
• ½ cup cornstarch
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ¼ tsp paprika powder
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch Kosher salt
• Pinch freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup beer, ice cold

Avocado tartar sauce

• 1 ripe avocado, sliced, pit removed, flesh scooped from peel
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp mayonnaise
• 1 large dill pickle, sliced
• 3 tsp capers
• 2 cloves fresh garlic
• 1½ tbsp fresh dill
• 3 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1½ tbsp chopped red onion

Instructions

1. For the fish, make the batter: add the cake flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, turmeric, baking powder, salt and pepper into a bowl and mix to combine. Pour ice cold beer into dry mixture, whisking to combine. Set aside.
2. Lay cod pieces on paper towel, patting to dry. Season each piece with salt. Add ½ cup cake flour to a bowl or plate, for dredging.
3. Preheat vegetable oil to 350°F (180°C) in a large pot, Dutch oven or deep fryer.
4. Working with one piece of fish at a time: dredge in plain (all-purpose) flour; dip in batter, then carefully lower into preheated oil. Repeat until all pieces are in the preheated oil. Deep fry fish, gently agitating the pan and oil, using tongs or metal utensil to flip fish within the oil. Remove each piece when golden brown, about 8 minutes total.
5. Transfer fish to a plate lined with kitchen towel and season with salt.
6. For the sauce, add avocado, mayonnaise, sliced dill pickle, capers, garlic cloves, fresh dill, fresh parsley, lemon juice and red onion to a food processor and blitz until creamy. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
7. To assemble crunchy battered fish sandwiches, cover the top and bottom of each piece of the toasted brioche burger buns with tartar sauce. Add a bed of shredded lettuce to the bottom portion of each bun. Lay a piece of battered Fish atop each bed of lettuce bun. Add pickled red onions and finish with top layer of bun.

Note

If you’d like to make your own pickled onion, find several quick pickle recipe options here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.