Happy International Beer Day!

Happy International Beer Day!

You’ve probably gathered by now that we’ll use any excuse to enjoy a good meal, and we tend to feel the same way about a refreshing drink. In honour of International Beer Day, we thought we better combine the two.

Those loveable rogues at Young Henrys brewery in Newtown lent us their toothsome Real Ale for our very Aussie beer battered barramundi and sweet potato chips. Using this tasty ale is just one of the tricks we’ve got up our sleeves though. We’ve replaced standard soggy chips with crunchy cinnamon infused sweet potato, and eschewed tartare sauce for a delectable salsa of avocado and mango. A smattering of tapioca flour on the sweet potato chips has to be one of our favourite cooking hacks in recent memory – it gives the chips the perfect crumbly, crunchy texture with a minimum of effort – simply pop them on a tray in the oven and Bob’s your uncle! Yep, we reckon this fish ‘n’ chips recipe is worthy of a day dedicated to enjoying some Friday brews of the highest order.

We of course recommend serving this beer battered barra with a chilled glass of Young Henrys Real Ale. It’s a 4% English style best bitter formulated with a blend of half English and half Australian malts and three of YH’s favourite varieties of Aussie hops; Topaz, Galaxy and Ella. We recommend serving it between 6-8°C to truly appreciate the flavours in this brew, although we’ll also settle for any old temperature – as long as you’ve got some good company.

Beer Battered Barra and Chips with Avocado Mango salsa

Ingredients

• For the Fish Fillets

  • – 2 barramundi fillets, deboned with the skin off
  • – 1 cup plain flour
  • – sea salt
  • – cracked black pepper
  • – 1 cup Young Henrys Real Ale
  • – vegetable oil, for frying

  For the Chips

  • – 1 large sweet potato
  • – 3 tbsp tapioca flour
  • – 2 tsp cinnamon
  • – salt and pepper, to taste
  • – 2 tbsp olive oil

  For the Avocado & Mango Salsa

  • – 1 large avocado
  • – 1 lime, juiced and zested
  • – 1 bunch chives, chopped
  • – 1/2 bunch coriander, roughly chopped
  • – 1 mango, cubed
  • – 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven 180°C.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, salt and pepper. Add half of the beer and whisk, then keep adding the rest of the beer a little at a time until you have a thick batter (add flour if the mixture gets too thin). Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
3. Chop the sweet potato into long fries, then toss in olive oil. Combine the tapioca flour, cinnamon and seasoning and toss the chips in this seasoning. Place on a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes or until crisp and soft through.
4. In a large frying pan, heat about an inch deep of vegetable oil over a medium-high heat.
5. Lay the fish fillets into the batter, let sit for a minute, and then flip over so that both sides are covered. Transfer to the hot oil in the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until the fish is cooked through and the batter is golden. Remove and place on paper towel.
6. Finally, combine mashed avocado with the juice and zest of a lime, chopped chives and coriander, the mango and olive oil. Serve as a refreshing alternative to tartare sauce alongside your beer battered barra and sweet potato fries.