Fried Fish With Vodka-and-Beer Batter Recipe (2024)

I have made this twice now and it is in my opinion the best fried fish recipe.The batter has to be the consistency of a pancake batter. The fish I used was haddock once and cod the next time. Both held up very well.The batter when fried is so light and crunchy and not greasy at all. Will definetely have this again.

The recipe creates a batter out of 1 1/4 cup white rice flour and 1 1/4 cup of AP flour (plus baking powder and salt. For 2 people, I divided the recipe in half, and I really liked the results—but Darryl is right that the batter is too thin. I like thin, crisp tempura-like coating, but my coating was thinner than that illustrated in the picture. Next time, for 2 I will increase the rice and AP flour by 1 T (1 T for each). Will report results😎

I think this batter must be deep fried. I shallow fried and also got layer of uncooked batter which tasted strongly of vodka; rather unpleasant;

Remade with the specified amts. of rice and all-purpose flour. I was not impressed b/c the batter trapped oil and there was a thin layer of uncooked batter between the cooked fish (160 degrees) and the crisp, cooked outer batter. Will not try again.

Question: what does one do with the oil after the deep frying? I have a deep fryer, a hand-me-down from my grandmother who was born in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) so definitely vintage but by golly it works fine. I avoid deep frying because I’m puzzled about what to do with the frying oil. All suggestions welcome!

Success in a recipe such as this requires an accurate thermometer. You need to know the oil temperature, and be able to adjust the heat to keep it at 375F. This is what “working in batches” refers to. Adding too much fish at once lowers the temperature too far for most burners to keep up.Harold McGee, the article’s author points out:“The batter proportions aren’t crucial….”

Has anyone tried using tequila instead of vodka (seems a natural with the beer) and/or using corn meal in the batter?

Best fried fish I've ever had. I made Julie Moskin's french fries first %20Search%20Recipe%20Card&pgType=search&rank=1 and once they were out of the oil I fried the fish - goes so quickly the fries were still hot. You definitely need at least the 1.5 inches of oil. Crispiest crust ever.

You initially dust the fish with rice flour. You make the batter using 1 1/4 cups of rice flour, and 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour, plus the baking powder and salt.

Leftover oil can be strained, put into a large jar, and reused several times. It does degrade over time but you can get several uses out of it without too much degradation.

I made this tonight. The only reason I didn’t give it five stars was because I had SO much leftover batter….a waste of the vodka and the other ingredients. Otherwise, the recipe was amazing…very light and tasty batter. The only change I made was to add garlic and onion powder to the fish before frying. Next time I will halve the batter for 2 lbs of fish.

Next time I will use less liquid. The batter was thin, and a lot fell off when added to the pan. (Yes right temp, right depth) Also as others have noted it is a lot of batter! So I guess I have to fry something else tomorrow? Not complaining!

Any PRO tips for keeping oil at temperature? I have Gas. Used instaread thermometer. Did not crowd the pan. Temps fluctuated and I had to constantly adjust. Cast iron grandma’s chicken fryer, deep peanut oil.

I doubled the amount of fish and doubled the batter as well. This was a mistake! I had so much leftover batter.

This is a great recipe, very crispy and light. But I ended up with way too much batter! I would do half the amount next time and cut back a little more on the liquid to flour ratio so it's a little thicker.

The best light crispy batter without after taste or greasy. We used fresh flounder and also large shrimp and both delicious

I also wasn’t a fan of this one at all. I literally couldn’t eat it; I think because of the vodka that didn’t cook off in the batter. It had a bitter, unpleasant taste. I deep fried it in my 12” cast iron skillet with the plenty of oil. Next time I’ll stick with a more traditional beer batter recipe.

I had 1# of rockfish filets and adjusted the recipe to use ½ cup each of AP flour, rice flour, vodka, and beer. There was still extra batter. The coating was very crispy and light but the taste of the beer was missing—did the vodka mask it? I guess I’ve enjoyed straight beer batter for fish filets just as much.

For Susan, who doesn't know what to do with used frying oil. Cool it in the pan, then pour into pint or quart cottage cheese container. If you have a dog and the oil is pure corn oil, you can put a tablespoon or two on its food to help with Omega 6s. If it's any other kind of oil or you don't have a dog, toss the cooled oil (in the cottage cheese container) in the trash. Don't give to cats- never sure what might not agree with them.

Can a air frier be used?

If using cod or halibut, cut the fillets in half lengthwise in order to cook the fish through as quickly as called for without overcooking the batter. Turbot, sole and flounder are thinner fillets.

Would it be possible to make this in an air fryer?

The texture of the fried batter was exquisite (do make sure not to lay it on top thick as it expands a lot in the oil), but the nagging vodka taste was a deal-breaker for both my kids and me. Maybe something besides Absolut would have a different effect?

Question: what does one do with the oil after the deep frying? I have a deep fryer, a hand-me-down from my grandmother who was born in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) so definitely vintage but by golly it works fine. I avoid deep frying because I’m puzzled about what to do with the frying oil. All suggestions welcome!