Crispy Beer-Battered Fish Sandwich With Fennel Slaw Recipe

A good fish sandwich has a perfect combination of toasty bread, creamy tartar sauce, slaw, and an ultra-crispy battered fish filet. In every bite, you get to enjoy a full range of texture and temperature contrasts, with a combination of sweet, tart, tangy, and savory flavors. Recipe developer Julie Kinnaird shares with us her favorite crispy beer-battered fish sandwich with fennel slaw, and it checks all of the tasty boxes. Kinnaird starts by making a tartar sauce using mayo as a base (she loves the Kewpie brand), then adds piquant capers, sweet pickle relish, and a touch of malt vinegar as a nod to classic pub fish & chips. The fennel slaw is the crowning jewel of the sandwich, with a marriage of tart apple, sweet-sharp red onion, citrusy celery seed, and a touch of anise in the crispy fennel. 

What makes this fish sandwich perfection, however, is the shatteringly crispy batter on the fish. Kinnaird uses white rice flour and cornstarch instead of regular wheat flour, adds some baking powder for lift, and a refreshing lager for carbonation to loosen the batter up. The result is the crispiest, crunchy crust, which keeps the fish moist inside without being heavy. Once you realize how easy it is to make a perfect fish sandwich at home, you will be thinking of any excuse to whip up a batch for friends, family — or just yourself!

This recipe has 3 main components:  the tartar sauce, the fennel slaw, and the batter for the fish. Starting with the tartar sauce, you will need mayonnaise, small capers packed in brine, sweet pickle relish, honey, and malt vinegar. The fennel slaw is made from a combination of thinly sliced fennel bulb, tart Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced red onion, and the dressing contains olive oil, fresh lemon juice, celery seeds, and sea salt for flavor. To make the batter for the fish, you will need white rice flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and a little more sea salt. Some of the rice flour is also used for dredging the fish before dipping it in the batter. You will need a 12-ounce can or bottle of lager or other light and crisp beer. For the fish, boneless and skinless cod filets are perfect for this recipe, with their mild flavor and flaky texture.

To fry the fish, Kinnaird likes using pure peanut oil for its high smoke point and slightly nutty flavor. She also suggests using safflower or a vegetable blend with canola or avocado as alternative oils. You will be frying the fish at 375 F, so using an oil with high smoke point is very important. For serving the fish sandwiches, use a soft brioche bun or your favorite sandwich roll.

For the tartar sauce, mix the mayonnaise, capers, relish, honey, and vinegar in a small bowl.

In a medium bowl, toss together all slaw ingredients.

Cover the tartar sauce and slaw and refrigerate until ready to use.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set a rack on top.

Rinse and pat dry the fish with paper towels.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 ½ cups rice flour, the cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.

Slowly whisk in the beer until the mixture is smooth.

Heat the peanut oil in a large, heavy, and deep pot until it reaches 375 F.

Add the remaining rice flour to a plate and dredge the fish filets until coated on all sides.

Dip one filet in the beer batter using a fork, lifting the filet up to allow excess batter to drip off.

Slowly lower the battered filet into the hot oil, moving it through the oil with the fork to set the batter. Repeat with the remaining filets.

Cook the fish for about 3 minutes on each side until golden brown.

Remove the filets from the oil to the prepared rack.

On the bottom of each toasted bun, spread about 2 tablespoons of the tartar sauce.

Place a filet on each bun.

Top with some of the fennel slaw and the remaining bun halves.

Serve immediately with your favorite beer and sides.

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Deep-frying your own fish does not require a special fryer or lots of fry cook experience — just a deep, heavy pot, a sturdy thermometer, and attention to detail. The key to perfectly fried fish is to have your oil at the right temperature, which is 375 F. This will give you a nice golden brown exterior without a soggy, oily crust or burnt batter. For the batter itself, you want to keep everything as cold as possible. Use ice-cold beer and then immediately refrigerate your batter until ready to use. Have the fish chilled, as well. This recipe uses a combination of white rice flour and cornstarch for the lightest texture. The gluten in all-purpose wheat flour contains more protein than the rice flour, which can lead to a heavier texture. The downside of rice flour is that it does not brown as nicely as all-purpose flour, but this is where the beer comes in. The sugars in the beer help with the browning, while the carbonation, combined with the baking powder, creates lift and air pockets in the batter that expand when exposed to the hot oil. Kinnaird says that she adapted this technique from learning how to craft tempura batter while in culinary school and has stuck with it ever since.

One final tip is to have everything prepped and ready before you start frying so that the fish can go into the sandwiches while it is still hot. The creamy and cold tartar sauce, and crunchy slaw contrast the ultra crispy and hot fish and the toasted bun. If you do need to reheat your filets, an air fryer is genius for keeping everything crispy without overcooking the fish inside.

Cod is a classic fish for beer-battering and frying, but there are plenty of other fish in the sea, as the saying goes. When choosing a fish to fry, you want to consider aspects like flavor and texture, along with how oily the fish is. If you think about it, using an oily fish like salmon equates to a very oily fry. Leaner fish, such as haddock or halibut, have a similar flaky texture to cod but won't add to the richness of the final product. These two fish also have a firm, meaty consistency that holds up well during the battering and frying process.

Flavor is important to consider, as you don't want an overly "fishy" taste or strong character that will overwhelm the delicate batter. Rockfish is a tender and flaky fish that has just a hint of sweetness that pairs well with the yeasty, malty batter. Rockfish can be a bit more fragile than other whitefish, so Kinnaird says to find the thickest filets you can and take care when cooking.

Fish to avoid are those with lots of little bones that are hard to remove. The idea of perfect beer-battered fish is to indulge and enjoy without worrying about little bones to poke and prod.

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