Barb’s uses soda water in their batter to create a light and airy breading, allowing the flavours from the wild Pacific halibut to shine through. Biting into that golden crispy exterior reveals beautifully tender and flaky Pacific halibut that has been cooked to melt in your mouth perfection.
Courtesy of Chef Nath Keo of Barb’s Fish & Chips
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ingredients
Batter
Halibut
Coleslaw
Coleslaw Dressing
Assembly
directions
For the batter: in a large bowl, flour, salt, lemon pepper and baking powder are sifted until well incorporated.
Soda water is gently poured in and mixed until smooth. The consistency should be like warm honey but not too runny. The batter needs to cling to the fish.
For the halibut: filet halibut is rolled in dry flour and then dipped in the batter.
Create a deep fryer on the stove top: add the oil to a deep pot but fill it no more than half full. Generally, the walls of the pot should rise at least 4 inches above the oil so that there are no spillovers. This also helps contain splattering and makes cleanup easier. Use enough oil so that you can submerge a small batch of food completely.
Bring it up to temperature. Use a probe thermometer held upright in the center of the pan of oil to check the temperature.
Get it to 350°F and then drop the coated fish filet into the hot oil.
Let it cook until golden for 3-4 minutes.
Remove it from the oil and let it cool on some paper towel, which will absorb some of that oil.
For the coleslaw: shredded vegetables are placed in a large bowl, and dressing is poured over the top, adjusting the quantity to suit the palette. The coleslaw is tossed or massaged by hand until evenly dressed and placed into a serving cup.
For the fries: cook according to the store-bought method.
To assemble: fries go on the plate and a piece of halibut is placed on top with a cup of coleslaw and some tartar sauce, garnished with fresh lemon wedge.