Why It's Worth Doing Properly at Home

Fish and chips is the closest thing we have to a national dish, and yet the home version so often disappoints: pale, flabby batter, chips that steam rather than crisp, and a kitchen that smells of oil for a week. The good news is that the difference between a mediocre attempt and something that genuinely rivals a good chippy comes down to a handful of controllable things — the variety of potato, the temperature of your oil, and the order in which you fry. Get those right and a proper chip-shop supper is well within reach of an ordinary kitchen.

Start With the Right Fish and Potatoes

Buy your fish on the day you plan to cook it. Haddock and cod are the classics, but hake, pollock and coley are excellent and often kinder on the wallet. Look for thick, firm fillets — around 2cm is ideal — with the skin removed and any pin bones taken out. Ask your fishmonger for an even thickness; a fillet that is thick at one end and thin at the other will always cook unevenly.

For the chips, floury potatoes are non-negotiable. Maris Piper is the reliable choice, with King Edward, Rooster and a decent baking potato close behind. Waxy salad potatoes hold their shape too well and stay dense in the middle. For four people, peel and cut about 1kg of potatoes into chips roughly 1.5cm thick and 7cm long. Rinse them in cold water until it runs clear, then dry them thoroughly — wet chips spit and never crisp properly.

A Batter That Stays Crisp

Keep it simple and keep it cold.

• 175g plain flour, sifted into a bowl
• 1 tsp baking powder for lift
• 1 tbsp cornflour for extra crunch
• 250ml very cold water, or half water and half lager for a lighter, more flavoursome crust

Whisk briefly until just combined. Lumps are fine — in fact they are a sign you have stopped in time. Overworking the mixture develops gluten, which gives you a tough, chewy shell rather than a shattering one. A teaspoon of malt vinegar helps too, as the acid slows gluten formation. Rest the batter in the fridge for 20 minutes. You want the consistency of double cream: thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, thin enough to run off it.

Choosing Your Frying Oil

This matters more than most people expect.

• Beef dripping — the traditional choice, and still the best for flavour. It gives chips a deep, savoury note that oil cannot match. It sets solid when cold, so it needs gentle reheating.
• Rapeseed or vegetable oil — the modern chip-shop standard. Neutral, affordable, with a high smoke point.
• Sunflower oil — a fine alternative, very similar in behaviour.
• What to avoid — olive oil, butter and any unrefined or flavoured oil. They burn at the temperatures you need and impose their own taste on the food.

Use at least two litres in a deep, heavy-based pan, and never fill it more than a third full. A thermometer is not a luxury here; it is the difference between crisp and greasy.

The Two-Stage Fry

First, the chips. Heat the oil to 140°C and fry the chips in batches for six to eight minutes, until they are soft and pale but not coloured. Lift them out onto a rack to drain and cool for at least ten minutes. You can do this hours ahead.

Then, the fish. Pat the fillets dry, dust them lightly in seasoned flour, then dip into the batter and let the excess drip away. Raise the oil to 180°C. Holding a fillet by the tail end, lower it in gently, moving away from you. Fry for six to eight minutes until deep golden and puffed, turning once. Cook no more than two at a time — crowd the pan and the temperature drops.

Finally, finish the chips. Return the oil to 190°C and fry the blanched chips for three to four minutes until crisp and golden. Salt them the moment they come out. Keep everything warm in a low oven on a rack, never on kitchen paper, which traps steam and softens the crust.

Serving It the Way It Deserves

Malt vinegar, generously applied, is the only correct finish. After that, the classics: mushy peas, tartare sauce, a pickled onion or two, and thick buttered white bread for a chip butty. A pint of well-kept bitter alongside is, of course, entirely traditional. Serve on paper or in a greaseproof-lined basket — and leave it open rather than wrapping it tight, because trapped steam will undo all your good work.

There is something pleasantly communal about the whole business. Frying for a crowd takes organisation, but it turns an ordinary Friday into an occasion: friends round, the radio on, a first batch of chips disappearing as fast as it comes out of the pan. Set up a quiz sheet on the table and you have a proper local night in. And when the oil has cooled, pour it into a sealed container and take it to your local recycling centre — never down the sink.