I never knew how serious Friday Fish Fry was in Wisconsin. It is legit serious. Every restaurant, regardless of type of restaurant, has a fish fry on Friday nights. Pizza place? Fish Fry. Supper Club? Fish Fry. The Journal Sentinel has an article online showing “The 43 best Friday Fish Fry’s” in Milwaukee. THE FORTY THREE BEST.

We like to make ours at home, with a beer batter. My husband makes the best ever. The fish we use is frozen cod fillets. It’s tender and flaky and has a nice neutral taste.
We defrost the fillets in warm salt water, about 1/4 cup salt to 5 cups warm water. After they’re defrosted squeeze the excess water out.

The wet batter is 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 an egg (we give the other half to the dogs. They know when we’re making fish that they’re going to get the egg so they hang around underfoot), 6 oz beer (a light lager works well for this), 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt.

The dry portion is 1/2 cornstarch, 1/2 flour, so about a half cup of each.

Dip the fish in the dry batter.

Then the wet batter.

And fry in peanut oil at about 350 until finished and golden brown. It should take 5-6 minutes.

Serve with duck fat fries and malt vinegar. We like Sarson’s Malt Vinegar most of the time.

And tartar sauce.

Enjoy!!
IF YOU LIKE THIS RECIPE YOU WILL ALSO LIKE…
- Crab Cakes With Remoulade
- Chicken Fried Steak
- Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan
- Crawfish Po’ Boy
- Chicken And Waffles
- Chicken Fried Chicken
- Coconut Beer Battered Shrimp
Fish Fry
Ingredients
Wet Batter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 egg beaten
- 6 ounces Beer Light lager
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
Dry Batter
- 1/2 cup corn starch
- 1/2 cup flour
Instructions
- Start with 6-8 frozen cod fillets. Defrost in salt water (5 cups water with 1/4 cup salt). Squeeze water out of fillets so they aren't overly wet. Dip fillets in dry batter, then wet batter. Cook in prepared peanut oil heated to 350 degrees, for approximately 6-8 minutes until nicely browned and cooked through.
[…] with fried fish and duck fat […]