Backfisch
Cod or haddock fillets in a light beer batter, fried until crisp and served with remoulade and potato salad.
Photograph credit: Fish, chips and mushy peas (image of fried fish on Wikidata Q798414) by Charles Haynes from Bangalore, India · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
The Method for Backfisch
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Pat the fish dry, sprinkle with the salt and lemon juice and dust with the 40 g flour.
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Whisk the 150 g flour, lager, yolk and a pinch of salt until just smooth. Whisk the white to stiff peaks and fold in. Chill for 10 minutes.
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Heat the oil to 180°C / 355°F in a deep pan.
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Dip the fish in the batter and fry in two batches for 4 minutes, turning once, until deep gold. Drain on kitchen paper.
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Serve with the remoulade and lemon wedges.
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Keep an Eye on These
- Dust the fish with flour so the batter holds.
- Do not overmix the batter.
- Fry in batches to keep the oil hot.
Good to Know About Backfisch
Backfisch is a plain German fried fish, and the name only describes the method: fish that is fried in batter. It is the dish of the lakeside and the fish stall, and the batter is a thin crisp coat, lighter than the English kind.
Use firm white fish such as cod, haddock or pollock, cut into 3 cm thick pieces. Pat them dry, season with salt and a squeeze of lemon and dust with flour so the batter grips. Mix the batter from flour, beer, an egg yolk and salt, and fold in the whisked white at the end. Do not overmix, as a few lumps are better than a tough coat. Chill the batter for 10 minutes.
Dip each piece and let the excess run off, then fry in oil at 180°C / 355°F for 4 minutes, turning once, until deep gold. Drain on kitchen paper. Serve with remoulade, lemon and a cold potato salad. Fry in two batches so the oil stays hot, and eat the first batch while the second cooks.
To Go With It
Potato salad · Remoulade · Lemon wedges · Lager
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: German Red Cabbage, Gurkensalat, Rye Bread.
Storing Leftovers
Best fresh.
Backfisch Nutrition
No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (how much frying oil the food takes up cannot be known from the recipe). Why some recipes have none.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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