ARCHER TEACHERS GREAT FISH AND CHIPS
"The simplicity of imitating the original Arthur Treacher Fish is to whip together the boxed pancake mix (used dry from the box) with the club soda, till the batter becomes the consistency of buttermilk. You may have to add a little more club soda to achieve this consistency. (Perhaps a 1/2 cup more will do!) Set it aside."
3 lb fish fillets
flour
oil (for deep frying)
FOR THE BASIC FISH BATTER:
3 cups boxed pancake mix
3 cups club soda
Chips (recipe follows)
Cut 2 to 3 pound fish fillets each in half, making a triangle shape of each half. Moisten each in a bit of water. Shake off excess water & coat lightly in plain flour. Let pieces dry 3 or 4 minutes on waxed paper, without touching each other. The floured coating acts as an adhesive, so that when you dip them each into the wet batter, the coating will not break apart nor fall off during frying.
Heat oil for deep frying to 385-400 degrees F. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
With tip of small sharp knife, pierce 1 floured piece of fish at a time & dip to coat evenly but lightly in prepared fish batter. Drop at once into 3-inch depth of hot oil and fry only a few minutes each side, turning only once to brown each side. Do NOT use tongs to remove fish from hot oil, or coating will break and fall apart. Spear pieces 1 at a time with tip of sharp knife & place on cookie sheet (ungreased) and keep pieces warm in 300 degrees degree F oven till all pieces have been fried.
CHIPS
The CHIPS are imitated by cutting frozen "cottage Fries" each in half to a crescent shape and fried in the same hot oil, after frying the fish, just as you would frozen French fries. OR prepare your own fries.
Serves 6 to 8.
Source: Gloria Pitzer's Secret Fast Food Recipes, 1976 |