Fish & Chips Burger: A fully-loaded, from-scratch ode to the British pub fave

CBC Life | Posted: August 28, 2019 9:40 PM | Last Updated: August 28, 2019

DJ BBQ created a comfort food masterpiece that we can’t wait to devour

Image | Fish & Chips Burger

Caption: (Photography by David Loftus)

We love when a food mashup can take two distinctly beloved meals and turn them into something delicious that doesn’t sacrifice the integrity or taste of the original versions (see this epic Shawarma Poutine). We don’t think it’s a leap to place this fully-loaded Fish & Chips Burger from Christian “DJ BBQ” Stevenson’s new cookbook The Burger Book in that esteemed category either. Stuffed with freshly fried white fish, homemade “chips”, mushy peas and a from-scratch tartar sauce, it’s a perfect ode to the British pub favourite that you can keep enjoying even when BBQ season feels eons away.

Fish & Chips Burger

By Christian “DJ BBQ” Stevenson

Back in 2003, I used to host a radio show called the Rock Copter, for Total Rock. The station was above a pub in south London. Across the road was the best fish and chips restaurant in London, run by these twin brothers. They spent their lives buying rundown fish and chip joints, rebuilding them, turning them around and flipping them for a nice profit so that they could go off travelling. When the money ran out, they would return to London and find another chippy.

These dudes taught me how to make the perfect fish and chips — it’s all about the temperature of the oil. If it’s not hot enough, you’ll just boil the food and it won’t crisp up properly. No one wants soggy chips (apart from my 11-year-old son. Weird kid). Sometimes I wouldn’t want to finish the meal and would get a doggy bag for the next day — and that’s when this burger was born. Let’s do this!

Ingredients

3 or 4 baking potatoes (you’ll only need 2 for the burgers but make extra to nibble on the side)
Vegetable oil, for deep-fat frying (at least 2 litres)
4 portions of white fish fillet (cod/ haddock/coley/plaice all work well but my fave is haddock – make each portion a bit bigger than your bun)
Malt vinegar
4 soft white buns

Batter:

1 ⅔ cup self-raising (self-rising) flour, plus extra for dusting
1 ¼ cups beer

Mushy Peas:

1 295 mL can marrowfat peas
2 tbsp butter

Tartare Sauce:

Scant ½ cup mayonnaise
1 gherkin (pickle), finely chopped
1 tbsp capers, finely chopped
½ tsp English mustard
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

First, let’s get those chips rocking. The best chips come from baked potatoes. It’s pretty much like doing a twice-cooked chip! Make them the day before, as the potatoes need to cool completely before deep-frying.

Preheat the oven to 350°F/gas mark 4. Bake your potatoes for 45–60 minutes. Pull them out and let them cool. When you’re ready to fry, cut the potatoes into chip-like wedges.

Batter batter, hey BATTER! Batter up! Whisk the flour, beer and a pinch of salt and pepper in a large bowl until smooth. Or as smooth as you can – don’t worry if there are a couple of lumps.

Empty your tin of peas into a small saucepan. Add the butter and stir over a low heat on the hob (or indirect heat on the outdoor grill) for 10 minutes until mushy. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix all your tartare sauce ingredients together in a bowl and set aside, ready for the build.

Now for the interesting part! Pour the oil into a large deep saucepan (or you can use a deep-fat fryer) – it needs to be about half-filled.

Set it over a high heat and get that oil hot. Once the temperature reaches 350°F, you are good to fry.

Chuck some flour on a plate or chopping board and press your fish in it until it is lightly coated with flour. Now dip the fish into the batter so that it’s completely covered. Pull it out and let the excess batter drip off, then carefully slip the battered fish into the hot oil.

Yield: Makes 4 burgers

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