Weekend Herb Blogging is approaching its second birthday. The grand event will be next week, so stay tune for any update from Kalyn, WHB founder… This week, our guest host is the lovely Haalo of Cook Almost Anything At Least Once. And for this, I have prepared a dish inspired from Ezard, a restaurant in Melbourne, to participate.
At Ezard, the dish is called Tempura-Fried Fish & Chips with lime, soy and sesame. This reflects the Ezard´s focus on contemporary Australian food with some Asian flair. The idea itself is lovely, presenting a new take on the traditional fish and chips. To prepare the dish at home, I have used Ezard´s recipe with some personal modifications. I know tempura fish will be lovely, but it´s hard to let go the crunchiness that beer batter produced. So I replaced the tempura batter with the traditional beer batter (hence the name almost contemporary!).
I, however, really like the idea of Taro & Lotus Root Chips. These two ingredients, taro and lotus root, are used widely in Asian cuisines. And pairing them with fried fish is such a great idea… One note though, you need to get fresh taro and lotus root. The frozen ones, which are easy to find in Asian groceries, will not do.
To accompany the crunchy fried fish with taro and lotus root chips is the sweet soy dressing, sesame salt and some lime juice. Serve it with a salad; it is a perfect meal indeed.
Fish with Taro and Lotus Root Chips
Recipe from Ezard´s book with some modifications. This recipe serves 6 people.
The Chips
Oil for frying
1 taro, cut into julienne strips
1 fresh lotus root, peeled, sliced finely at 45 degree angle
½ fine sea salt
The Fish
6 large flathead fillets, skinned and boned
Some plain flour
Beer Batter
250g self-rising flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp oil
300ml beer
Sesame Salt
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp sea salt
Sweet Soy Dressing
100ml sweet soy sauce (ketjap manis)
50ml light soy sauce
1-2 tbsp filtered water
Some icing sugar
Limes, to serve
Method
For the beer batter: whisk half of the beer with the flour and oil. Make sure there is no lump. Then, whisk in the rest of the beer. Chilled 20 mins before using.
Heat the oil until hot. Deep fry the taro roots and then lotus roots. Drain on absorbent paper. Sprinkle some salt and icing sugar. Keep warm until ready to serve.
For the sweet soy dressing: whisk everything together. Taste then set aside.
Sesame salt: toast the sesame in hot pans until just brown. Cool. Grind the sesame seeds and salt together using a mortar ad pestle.
Close to serving, prepare the fish. Slice the fillet into long fingers. Dust each finger with some flour, shaking off any excess. Dip into the beer batter then deep-fry until crispy and golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper and sprinkle with some sesame salt
Serve the fish with taro and lotus root chips, accompanied with small dishes of sesame salt and sweet soy dressing. Also don´t forget the lime wedges!
Anh,
Beer batter fish…wow…thats something my husband would love to give a try :)
Love that bowl of stylin’ crunchies, Anh. Would be hard to dismantle them, but all for a good cause. : )
That sounds so good…and beautiful pictures too!
Love the look of those crunchy lotus root chips!
Great photo, indeed!
Your blog is so pretty,
I will take your contemporary fish and chips any day! I wish I weren’t so afraid of frying…
I cheered when I read that you were keeping the beer batter haha
These are contemporary alright. Loved the idea to use other veggies for the chips. They look attractive too.
What a great post. This sounds so interesting and delicious. And your photos are just fantastic. Wish I could eat some of this with you!
oh Anh, I love beer battered anything… it looks so delicious, and the chips look beautiful!
What an amazing spin on fish and chips. I would totally eat the taro and lotus chips – think they sound great!
the fish looks great, the taro chips is heaven! you cook great food, Anh!
Azian Hasan, thanks. I really like this new idea!
Hi!
I’ve been dying to eat fish and chips for a while now…your picture just pushed me over the edge!
Perfect! That’s my idea of fish and chips! Beer batered fish is so good–and the Asian flavors are just wonderful.
What an outstanding dish Anh! I love the chips- so very striking! What a fabulous WHB contribution!
crunch. those fish look so crispy. the presentation with the taro and lotus root chips looks gorgeous,too.
anh
Wow Anh, this sounds so good and I love fish! Could not make your chips here, as the Taro and Lotus are not available. But the fish is a can-do!
am curious to see the pictures here, but noway with flickr..good recipe..
Wow, what a great idea. Those chips looks amazing!! Very nice dish.
Those chips looks especially good, although I don’t know if I could find fresh lotus root or taro. But the fish – I could find everything for that,and I’d enjoy every last bite!
Cooking Blogger, thanks for your sweet comments. Let me know if you try any recipe. :)
This sounds like a tasty dinner. I like the idea of the soy based dipping sauce for fish and chips. I do not think that I have ever seen fresh lotus roots or taro before (other than in pictures).
I though for a minute you’d gone all molecular! Beer batter bothers me sometimes as it can overwhelm delicate foods, so then I just add some extra baking powder to the self raisng flour to get the same crunch, but there definitely are times when beer batter is just right.
What an interesting pairing of fish & chips. I’m afraid though that I have not seen taro root frozen or otherwise anywhere near here. Perhaps I’ll keep looking!!!!
Love fish fries and that too with such other delicacies
This is so creative. I love it! Can I have some ?
I’m always thinking, many of our Asian ingredients are really superb, but for some reasons they can’t get the “star” treatment (as French or Italian) in worldwide. Glad there are so many talented people out there (you!), giving them a contemporary presentation, which definitely helps to open people mind in my opinion.
Wonderful photography!!!!Fish n chips…the everloved combo!!!:)
I am dying for some fish and chips even at 7:40 in the morning..these pictures make them look amazing.
Wow, this looks like a fabulous meal. The fish batter looks like it’s nice and crunchy.
I. Am. Hungry.
That’s a really fab spin on fish and chips, yum!
I came across lotus root this weekend at the country market and didn’t have anything in mind, so I did not buy any… now I regret it! This beer batter is so good, I have tried a similar one with onions… Great pictures!
Kevin, both taro and lotus roots are very popular among Asian community… If you have a chance to go to an Asian store, most likely you can find them.
Anh this looks soooooo yummy and I’m starved to boot!
So it’s like torture to me :D. Great post!
A woman not afraid of frying…love ya! The chips look amazing…I still have to get lotus though I have been meaning to for over a year. Looks really tasty!
I can only dream about making the fries, but I at least I will try the fish! Such beautiful pictures.
OOOH, I’m drooling all over
So pretty and I love the lotus root effect.
Wow, Anh! Gourmet fish & chips…I love it. The beer batter sounds really good, and you’ve taken gorgeous photographs, as always.
The green of the lime is a nice striking jolt of color, very nicely done. 
So beauty pìctures!!!! I love your blog….and food. Thanks Gloria
Looks so crispy, tasty and I always love the way you take the picture..so pretty!What kind of camera do you use?
Very nice indeed, Anh! I especially love the taro and lotus root chips, unfortunately I have only seen the frozen variety here in Perth. I really miss the beautiful crunchy texture and the thread-like strands that come off when you take a bite of the lotus root!
share with me pleaseee
Beautiful looking meal! I’ve tried taro chips (like potato chips) but never as fries. And I’ve definitely never tried lotus chips.
I just had fried lotus root chips recently on a dish and it was soooo pretty. I’ve just always had it in soup form before.
I love lotus and taro chips! Great spin on the classic fish n chips. This looks wonderful!