Fish & Chips (with Mushy Peas and Tomato Ketchup)

Food for a Friday night.

1. 1

   *Tomato Ketchup
   
   1. Peel and finely chop the garlic and ginger, then gently cook off in a pan with a teaspoon of olive oil.
   
   2. Score the tomatoes 4 times each from where the stalk grows down to the base. Place in a bowl of boiling water, cover, and leave for 10 minutes.
   
   3. Chop the onion and the chilli.
   
   4. Take the tomatoes from the water, chop in half and remove the outer skin and the centre stalk part.
   
   5. Put all those things in a blender (or crush with a mortar and pestle), adding a squeeze of lemon, a teaspoon of olive oil, a dash of vinegar, a teaspoon of sugar, a pinch of salt and some black pepper. Sieve the resulting mixture into a bowl and refrigerate.
   
   
   *Mushy Peas
   
   1. Cook 2 handfuls of peas in a small saucepan for roughly 4 minutes. Strain off the water and add a good squeeze of lemon, 2 teaspoons of olive oil, a pinch of salt and some black pepper. Crush the peas with the back of a fork, then set aside to be reheated later.
   
   
   *Fish & Chips
   
   1. Chop the fish fillet into 2 pieces and dry them on some kitchen roll or a tea towel. Sprinkle 10g of corn flour around a large plate and press the fillets onto the flour, covering evenly on both sides.
   
   2. Heat the oven to 220°C (200 in a fan oven).
   
   3. Pour the 50g of self-raising flour and the remaining 50g of corn flour into a large mixing bowl, adding a pinch of salt, some white and some black pepper. Whisk the egg white until frothy, then add to the flour mix, along with the 125ml of chilled lager. Whisk it all together until you get a paste. Set aside.
   
   4. Peel the potatoes then chop into chips of roughly the thickness of your index finger.
   
   5. Pour 4 tablespoons of sunflower oil into a large, flat baking tray and heat in the oven for about 5 minutes.
   
   6. Tip the chips into the baking tray and toss well in the heated oil, making sure to cover all the chips. Put the tray back into the oven on the middle shelf, and cook for 25 minutes or until the chips are golden brown. Make sure to toss them again after about 10 minutes.
   
   7. Fill a high-sided frying pan with sunflower oil, to the depth of about 3cm. Heat the oil until it's just about smoking, but don't set the house on fire. You can test that it's the correct heat by dropping in a teaspoon of the batter mix - if it cooks and burns very quickly, it's too hot. If it hardly sizzles, it's too cold.
   
   8. I like to cook one piece of fish at a time, so taking the first fillet, place it in the batter mix and coat it evenly all over. Then with a slotted spoon or a spatula, lower it into the hot oil. Cook that side for 2-3 minutes, then the other side for 3-4 minutes, or until it's a nice golden brown colour (use your judgement). Remove, and place on a piece of kitchen roll or tea towel to absorb the excess oil. Repeat for the other piece of fish.
   
   9. Reheat the peas, adding a teaspoon of water if necessary to avoid drying out.
   
   10. When they're ready, take the chips out and plate them up with the fish and peas. Garnish with a sprig of parsley and a wedge of lemon.