Cider and fennel seed battered fish with the best tartare sauce

Summer

There are few things more satisfying to cook, or eat, than crisp battered fish. Good hake works brilliantly here, it stays nice and moist and flaky beneath the golden shell of cider batter. The fennel seeds bring an unusual quality to the batter and work so well with both he fish and the cider. This is my fav tartare sauce, packed with herbs, capers, gherkins and chopped egg, it cuts through everything perfectly. Serve with lemon wedges and a sprinkling of flaky salt.

Serves 3 - 4

Ingredients

500g - 750g hake fillet
100g plain flour
100g cornflour
1 tsp fine sea salt
½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp toasted fennel seeds, coarsely crushed
250ml sparkling cider
Extra flour, for dusting
Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sunflower oil, for frying
Lemon wedges, to serve

For the tartare sauce

6 - 8 small gherkins, or a couple of larger ones, roughly chopped
2 - 3 tsp capers, drained and roughly chopped
4 - 5 tbsp good mayonnaise
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
A handful of dill, chopped
A handful of flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped
1 hard-boiled egg, peeled and roughly chopped
Lemon juice, to taste
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

First, make the tartare sauce. Fold the gherkins and capers into the mayonnaise with the spring onions, dill, parsley and chopped egg. Season with salt and pepper and adjust the acidity with a little lemon juice, if you like. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine the flour, cornflour, fine sea salt, baking powder and fennel seeds. Pour in the cider and whisk until you have a smooth batter. Set aside.

Fill a medium, heavy-based saucepan two-thirds full with sunflower oil. Heat until a cube of bread browns in about 20 seconds.

Cut the hake into chunky strips, about 3cm wide. Season with salt and pepper, then lightly dust with flour. Dip the pieces of hake into the cider batter, then lower them carefully into the hot oil.

Fry in batches, about 4 - 5 pieces at a time, for around 5 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. Lift out and drain briefly on kitchen paper. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and serve at once with the tartare sauce and lemon wedges.

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