Sky Fish and Chips

 How has the weather been treating you, Dungeon Meshi Maniacs?  This March seems to be all over the place in my part of the dungeon!  Hot one day, winds strong enough to rip downspouts off the side of the house the next, hail the next next!  But you know what they say, when you can't predict the weather be sure to stay inside and fry something.  As we all ponder that famous saying that everyone has heard of we can count our lucky stars because this week we are breaking out the hot oil again!  Let's get ready for some Sky Fish and Chips!

Fried fish rules, DMMs.  Crispy on the outside but hot and soft on the inside. Just a perfect food for weird weather days.  Pair that with some chips and you are set.  But how do we get to frying up sky fish? And what exactly is a sky fish? Don't worry, DMMs. All will be revealed!  As we saw last week, Senshi is in some serious trouble.

Griffin's are bad news, DMMs. Half eagle/half lion. Why did it get all the good combinations?  Couldn't it have been happy with half puffin/half lion?  Or half eagle/half house cat?  No, the griffin reached for the literal skies with the animals it is made of.  A bigger downside is the Dungeon Crew isn't great with range.  Sure, they have magic but the griffin is flying around too much so they have a hard time keeping up.  Luckily our resident dark mage has a plan!

Familiars!  For those of use not big into Dungeons & Dragons you may need a familiar primer.  Basically, a familiar is a summoned animal that helps out the wizard that summoned it.  Pretty straight forward.  Depending on the setting a familiar can be a flesh and blood animal, something more astral or even an animal made of smoke.  Marcille take an interesting approach to her familiar summoning.

Cooking magic!  It's cooking magic, DMMs!  No surprise, this is my favorite type of magic to think about. If I were a little more creative I'd totally make a chef mage character.  Marcille is obviously not a chef but she is one badass wizard so surely her familiar will kick butt!

I....well....that's a....

Come on, Laios. That's not bad for a first try.  Needless to say the gingerbread looking birds don't last long against the griffin.  Marcille tries a few more times before coming up with something a little more successful. 

Sleak, agile, able to turn on a dime. This sky fish was the ticket the gang needed to take that griffin down and save Senshi.  And take the griffin down they did!

And the sky fish's honor to saving the day?

Okay, okay. The poor thing had died before they cut it up and cooked.  Waste not, want not. Right, DMMs?  And in Senshi's hands we get the sky fish and chips! I'm going to go out on a limb and say everyone knows by chips I mean french fries. This is a dish from England where lift means elevator and kilometer is an unknowable measurement of distance. And Chip means French Fries which means chips is the word I'm going to go with for this update.  This is a deep frying recipe so set up your oil and heat it up to 350 degrees.

As with earlier frying recipes, that oil may not look hot but it WILL blister you. Do not be tempted to stick your hand in there, DMMs!  To take your mind off the hot oil use this time to cut up some potatoes.  You'll be frying the chips second but the potatoes need to soak in some water beforehand.  Pick out some taters.

They don't look very big but trust me, DMMs. You get an amazing amount of chips out of a regular sized potato.  To cut chips first slice a level bottom off the potato.  This will make cutting it up way easier. Then cut to the thickness you want.

You'll notice that I left the skin on.  I like my chips to have the skin but feel free to peel your potato if you don't.  It's all good!  Now to get the chip shape lay these slices flat and just chop out the thickness you want again.

Simple!  Do this until you have the amount of chips that you want. Put them all in a bowl full of water with a little salt added and set aside.

What you are doing here, DMMs, is pulling out some starch and sugar.  This will keep the potato from browning.  Let them soak for 30 minutes.  While they are soaking time to turn to the fish.  Fish and chips typically uses a white fish so haddock or cod are typical.  I personally like cod and that's what I chose.  

Whatever fish you use be sure to pat them dry before frying! The less water you put into oil the better.  Now the fish is important but it's the batter that really shines in this dish. And we have a fun line-up!

Flour, cornstarch, baking powder, paprika, and a carbonated substance.  "It's supposed to be beer, you teetotaling glob!" I can hear you use as a speakeasy password.  Tsk, tsk, DMMs!  A pale beer is only one option.  You could also use seltzer water. Or you could do what I've done and use mead!

As I've said many times, I'm not a drinker.  But I do like what I've tried from Monks Meadery in Atlanta, GA.  I'm giving them a free plug because nogoodniks recently broke into their brewery and stole a lot of copper from the walls doing a lot of damage in the process! So if you're in the mood for mead give them a try. They could use the help and they ship! Back to the batter, I'm only making 4 so I went with half a cup of flour, a fourth a cup of cornstarch, a teaspoon of baking powder, and about a 1/4th teaspoon of paprika with a little salt and pepper for taste. Then started with a half cup of mead, adding more until I got the right consistency.  Just whisk all this into a bowl!

You want it just thick enough that it's still liquid but you feel some resistance when you whisk. If it's too thick, add more liquid. Too watery, add more flour.  Just don't try and make it perfect or you'll be there all night adding one or the other!  By now the oil is at 350 and the fish is dry. Dip a fish in the batter and then carefully add it to the hot hot oil!

Editor was nice enough to take this photo for me, DMMs!  There's no way I could safely add the fish and take a photo at the same time. A Ditto recently showed me how to sprout hands too! Only put in two fish at a time and watch that temp.  You want to keep it between 350 and 370 for 6 minutes, turning the fish at the 3 minute mark.

I really hope this video plays, DMMs. It's the first time I've tried to use one. I've mentioned before that the sound of food frying is one of my favorites. For some reason it just puts me at ease so I wanted to put it in.  Once 6 minutes are up you'll move the fish to a paper towel lined plate.  

Wowsers!  Fight the urge to bite into the scalding hot fish, DMMs!  Your mouth won't like it. Here's a little tip to keep the fish warm as you cook the rest. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Put your fried fish in the oven after soaking up the oil with the paper towels.  Keeps them warm and removes the temptation to eat them prematurely! Just repeat the batter dipping and frying until all your fish are golden brown. Once the fish are done it's time for the chips!  This is actually pretty straight forward.  Drain the fries, use even more paper towels to soak up the water and fry them up!  

Of course it is a little trickier than that.  We will be doing a double fry for the chips, DMMs.  You put the chips into oil at 320 degrees for four minutes, take them out, increase the temp to 370, and put the fries back in for 2 minutes.  This is the best way that I've found to ensure you have a crispy exterior but a soft and delicious interior!  Trust me, it's worth the little effort.

Sprinkle some salt over these and you have finished your fish and chips!  But wait, DMMs, there's more!  Even though Senshi didn't make it for his dinner you cannot have fish and chips without tartar sauce for dipping!  Yes, you can easily buy tartar sauce from your local grocery store but why not make it!? Here's what you need.

Baby dills, mayonnaise and herbs.  Sure, you typically use dill in tartar sauce but I was currently out.  Dill isn't something I keep around the house, DMMs. So Herbs de Provence will step up.  All you need is half a cup of mayonnaise, half a cup of diced pickles, and as much herbs and pepper that you want to add.  Just throw them all into a bowl and mix.

That's it!  So much fun to make. Now plate and you are good to go!

When I was in college, DMMs, I lived on Long John's fried fish and chips. It was the closest place to where my anime club hung out! So fish and chips is a real nostalgic dish for me. Now that I'm older I can't eat is as much as I did in my twenties but I can still watch the Irresponsible Captain Tylor after my meal!

What? You know I watch more than Dungeon Meshi, DMMs. I said so last week!  That's it for the Sky Fish and Chips. This is one that seems like it would be difficult but trust me, you can do it.  Just use a kitchen thermometer for the oil temp and watch it like a hawk.  Once you learn how to fry you'll be set. You'll be inspired to fry where no one has fried before! Inspired in the same way the idea of cooking familiars inspires Laois.

See you next time, DMMs!