How to Make the Best Fish & Chips | Basics with Babish 

Those excess batter bits go well with the chips especially with salt & vinegar so never throw em out

The 'detritus' as you call it is often served alongside the fish in traditional fish & chip shops and is called 'scraps'.

As a northern brit. I would have to say that the batter detritous. Which we call scraps, is a fantastic part of a fishband chip supper. I always get scraps at the chippy, even when im kot having fish

Fun fact, most chip shops don't have actual vinegar. What they use is 'Non-brewed condiment' that tastes pretty similar, but is fundamentally not the same as actual malt vinegar.

You should do an episodes of basics where you talk about growing your own herb garden, because that is something I don't know much about. Maybe you could do a whole series and call it Botany with Babish.

Always put the vinegar on before the salt; otherwise all the salt just gets washed away to the bottom of the plate/bag/box/newspaper whatever you're eating your chips out of.

When I made fish and chips at home, I followed the Final Fantasy XIV cookbook. The recipe called for more spices in the batter and a spice blend for the fries. Additionally, it also said par-fry the fries, fry the fish, then up the heat and finish the fries. I do remember I forgot to salt and pepper the fish after dredging… I’m not saying one recipe is better or worse than the other; I just find it fun to see how such a great dish can vary and still not compare to eating it in Newcastle, standing at the top of the cliff that was overlooking the North Sea. There isn’t a homemade fish and chips dish that can ever compare to that.

Just had fish and chips yesterday, now Im not saying Andrew is reading our minds but...Dang now im hungry again 😂

Definitely fry the fish first, there's a reason Chip Shops have heat lamps on the counter with all of the Sausages, Fish & Pies, the Chips always dry out when sat so they only keep them done for a certain amount of time before doing fresh batches

Congrats on the Basics book! I've been watching you for a few years and I still get excited for new episodes! Your team are so personable and your recipes always inspire me to try some thing new even though I hate cooking 😆

There is no better, more wholesome, more fulfilling meal than traditionally battered fish and chips. You can't change my mind.

Tried this today and it was ABSOLUTELY delicious. Bookmarking this one.

As a British person I can confirm that Gordon Ramsay would not only consume this in less than a minute, but also lick the plate too.

I’ve been getting into fish and chips lately and that look yummy! I love making my own tarter sauce.

Excited for the cookbook! Just bummed there’s no spiral bound option

Probably better to use ale rather than lager for the batter. That’s how my local chippy does it and it’s the best 😁

The only thing it's missing as a Brit is some basic sliced white bread and butter

It's impossible to make the best fish & chips. That title is held by the place on your local high street.

For my tartar sauce I replace the pickled cucumbers with pickled banana peppers. I find that the light amount of heat reacts very well with the fried food

For anyone using a designated fryer with a rack while putting any type of battered food in hold a bit of the edge in the oil for a few seconds so the batter cooks enough to not stick to the rack

Thanks. I liked the no-nonsense, quick-pace of this video. Instructional... I look forward to trying it.

Love your videos and everything you and your crew work is just amazing Andrew cant wait to get your new book

I love fish and chips! It's one my most favorite dishes! Thanks, Andrew!

Love this! British classic! 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

Congrats on the new book! Cant wait to pick up a copy. Happy Friday

Loving it! It’s my favorite dish! Would love to have mushy peas too 🥰

Please say you didn’t throw away the bits of batter that were left over?! They’re amazing!

Actual proper chips with fish and chips, perfection! And malt vinegar for them, a man of taste (according to my parents, never liked vinegar on fish and chips myself)

It's a common misconception that our chip shops in the UK use malt vinegar. What they use instead is non-brewed condiment, it's something made to look and taste like vinegar.

Congratulations on 10M subscribers! 🎉 Cant wait for the next milestone special

I ALWAYS come to your channel when I want to learn how to make something or refresh my memory, so I will definitely be buying that cookbook

Finally used this recipe and it came out fantastic. The dredge and batter was great on the fish and chips, thin lemon slices, and peppers, but was a bit too much batter for calamari we did as well. We will definitely used it again.

Detritus?! We call those little bits are scraps, and you get them extra to go on ya chips with the curry sauce.

Made this tonight. My wife doesn't like fish, so we used the same dredge and batter for some chicken for her along with my fish, and it turned out great! We had some dredge and batter left over so we also made some onion rings - those turned out bit too greasy but it was worth a try. The fries were excellent - I like the boil and fry method over the typical double-fry.

I think the bigger question when it comes to which goes first into the fryer is whether or not you want your chips to taste like fish.

Ahhhh the fast food favourite of many British folk alike so glad you covered this.

I got my book! This is the first recipe that I tried and it was great! I wish I would have made the batter a bit thicker, but I was worried about it not being the correct consistency. Also I love very crispy fries so I cooked them longer and higher to get that crunch. Very fun recipe to make!

Great content as always ❤

literally having this as my dinner bc honestly my is fav

It’s so great to see these recipes get their own videos, the dishes on this show are truly mouthwatering and our boy Babby knows how to make that a reality.

Your spotting is not from the age of the potatoes. It's from the newness of your oil, as things are fried in your oil, natural soaps are formed acting as an emulisifer. Allowing the hot oil to get closer to your fries and more even browning. So you can save your fry oil for next time and it will work even better.

"Keep it thin and loose" Andrew Rea, 2023. I'm sure that's applying to... like everything. I'm getting that cookbook, I have the first one and with me cooking a lot more recently the second iteration is a no brained. Wishing it a major success.

Not bad Babish, but personally I think haddock is the superior fish for this. In the UK most fish and chip shops have both as an option, but haddock has a bit more flavour.

Looks delicious, can’t wait to try this one. Random question: what do we do with all of that excess oil after we’ve fried everything? Asking for a friend. 🙃

I swear as soon as i warched this video, immediately got a Binging with Babish ad. I have never gotten a Babish ad ever and now i just did at the perfect time.

As a British person watching this, I can confirm that you did a spot-on job on cooking this traditional dish. 🐟🍟👍

As an Irish man - this is the content I needed

You forget the mushy peas

I did your receipt, it was a success. Thank you 🙏

so excited to get the new cookbook!

The leftover batter-bits are called scraps! And you’d best be scattering them over your fish and chips!

This was perfect timing to find this! I am making this for dinner and I always love the Babish Universe recipes!!

Man, the iconic intro song and footage. As iconic as fish and chips. Love it.

I always appreciate a recipe having troubleshooting involved, some of them have some real obvious mistakes everyone makes. I think that technique of boiling first would only work well with yellow potatoes, others are going to fall apart if you do that.

Thank you so much. I always want to make this ❤🎉

I live right on the cost of New England so we have plenty of cod and haddock. I always love a new fish and chips recipe. Great video! I just wouldn’t have discarded the scraps. Hey, if you’re going to eat fried, might as well eat it all lol. Also. When it comes to what to fry first. I learned from an expert (aka an Englishman) 😂. I par boil my chips just like you did. But then when it’s dry time put them in the oil and when the color is right, put the fish right on top of the chips. They don’t stick together and both come out perfect at the exact same time.

We basically cheered when you said the book title! So excited for you Andrew 🎉

love that there are troubleshooting tips in the cookbook haha

Now I need another cookbook! I have some culling to do.

As a Brit, I feel you’re missing out a bit. Mushy peas, and curry sauce on the chips, are great additions.

Never got a book faster! ♥️

I was stoked to see this fish & chips segment and even moreso to see another book on the way. I actually managed to procure a copy of Eat What You Watch at a thrift store. It's amazing what treasures can be found there. 😊 I would do the pre-order but my business relationship with Amazon is somewhat estranged at the moment. I ended my account with them after I started seeing unauthorized activity on my card. Thank you again for today's episode.

As someone who is British and who loves fish and chips, I believe you absolutely did this British classic justice.

Haddock represent. It's more common here in Scotland and apparently more sustainable though I might be wrong on that. Tastes just the same!

F&C is one of my favorite dishes!❤

Gotta admit, after the debacle that was the Full English Breakfast episode, I was really worried to see you take on another British staple. But this was fantastic! The fish looked great and a solid sized chip! I'd have loved to see mushy peas, chip shop curry sauce, or a larger piece of cod, but still great.

This channel lore is pretty awesome! Been a while but had to check in for this meal😂

Congratulations on the new book!

The fact that you know about "Friday Night Fish Frys" makes my Wisconsin heart happy

Love the video especially the tartare sauce. However must recommend frying the chips quickly for a second time. Tiny amount of effort for massive crunch improvement!

Yum! You could do with some mushy peas as well.

Now to wait patiently for the book to be released 😌

Ask Alvin that his next Arcade with Alvin video should be Splendid Vegetable Feast from Cult of the Lamb

I love getting a babish ad before a babish video. I thought it was just an ad in the video!

2:54 "mise en place" -> "Nissan Plus" is my favourite subtitle yet

Great tutorial. It's one of my favorites

Thank you Andrew!! First time cooking fish and chips!! And with your instructions it went off without a hitch!! Keep doing what you’re doing man!!

Chippy tea - perfect for Friday night

Oooh... fish and chips. Yes, please! And I think this new book will look very nice with my Binging with Babish book. 😉 I'm excited! Yay for your new book!

Oooh the book comes out on my birthday that's so cool

Hey Andrew, I know that your main market is the US, but I really wish you'd included metric measurements/amounts and temperature in Celsius in your cookbooks. It was a determining factor in why I chose two other cookbooks over yours recently :-/ perhaps when you reprint you could consider this?

Yes I always wanted to make fish and chips

Hi as a chef by trade I enjoy your content and your hard-work/creativity

Cod may be more traditional, but my favorite for fish and chips was always Halibut. Fresh Alaskan halibut is tough to beat!

Got an ad at the end with Andrew endorsing The Botanist gin. Surreal!

1:24 I've only ever used equal parts mayo, relish and a tiny dash of Mustard, never had any problems

A lot of chip shops in the UK have substituted the malt vinegar with dilute Acetic acid. Also you missed the mushy peas

I just got wind of your channel. You're doing an awesome job I trying you recipes with a cajun twist. Thanks you for sharing with us

I will make it when I can get the cod! This would also be great in a lunch box😋

I learned a couple weeks ago that officially you get a little bottle with vinegar with some spices in it I do hear Andrew mention malt vinegar but still

I'm not very much a fan of fish. But when it comes to fish and chips. It's always great, the texture, the consistency etc.

Pre-ordered already!

love this growth, books, new channel name, conquer!

So hyped for the book

I hate how I get the notifications for a new babish video when I'm hungry

Given the prevalence of Indian influence on British cuisine, as an experiment, I once made an "Indian inspired fish and chips". I flavoured the batter with garam masala and used coconut milk instead of ale to make the batter; I seasoned the chips with a layer of turmeric, made chilli-mint mushy peas, and instead of tartare sauce, I made a cucumber raita. It wasn't half bad!

I got a babish preroll ad on a babish video and you better believe i watched all the way through it

Awesome video, and thank you so much.

Been here since the beginning. How far you have come

Favourite dish of all time