Friday night at the chippy, recreated at home. Extra-firm tofu gives a flaky-white bite, a sheet of nori on one side brings the seaside flavour, and an ice-cold lager batter puffs up crisp and golden. Salt, vinegar and a pot of mushy peas finish the job.
Ingredients
servings
For 4 servings.
- 2 × 280g blocks extra-firm tofu (drained and pressed if needed)
- 2 nori sheets
- 1 lemon (juiced, plus wedges to serve)
- 1 tbsp caper brine (from a jar of capers, optional)
- 150g self-raising flour (for the batter, plus extra for dusting)
- ½ tsp baking powder (for the batter)
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric (for the batter)
- ½ tsp salt (for the batter)
- 250ml ice-cold lager or sparkling water (for the batter; if using lager, check it's labelled vegan)
- 1.2kg floury potatoes (such as Maris Piper, cut into thick chips)
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil (for the chips)
- enough to fill a pan to 5cm vegetable or sunflower oil (for frying)
- 400g frozen peas (for the mushy peas)
- 20g vegan butter (for the mushy peas)
- small handful fresh mint (for the mushy peas)
- to serve salt, malt vinegar and vegan tartare sauce
Scaled amounts are rounded. Cooking times usually stay the same, but a bigger batch may need a bigger pan or an extra few minutes.
Method
- Cut each tofu block in half horizontally to make 4 thin 'fillets'. Pat very dry. Mix the lemon juice, caper brine and a pinch of salt, and brush over the tofu. Cut the nori to the size of the fillets, dampen one side of each piece of tofu and press on a sheet of nori.
- Heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan), gas 7. Parboil the chips for 5 minutes, drain and steam-dry, then toss with 3 tbsp oil and salt. Roast on a large tray for 35–40 minutes, turning once, until crisp.
- For the mushy peas, simmer the peas for 4 minutes, drain, then roughly mash with the vegan butter, mint and seasoning. Keep warm.
- Heat the frying oil in a deep, heavy pan (no more than a third full) to 180°C. Never leave hot oil unattended.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, turmeric and salt, then whisk in the ice-cold lager or sparkling water until just smooth — a few lumps are fine.
- Dust each fillet in flour, dip in the batter, let the excess drip off, then lower carefully into the oil, away from you. Fry two at a time for 4–5 minutes, turning once, until puffed and deep golden. Drain on kitchen paper and salt immediately.
- Serve with the chips, mushy peas, lemon wedges, vinegar and tartare sauce.
Good to know
- Keep the batter as cold as possible and mix it just before frying — cold batter hitting hot oil is what makes it crisp.
- Use a kitchen thermometer for the oil. If you don't have one, a drop of batter should sizzle and rise immediately.
Check every label: stocks, sauces, breads and pastries sometimes contain milk, egg or fish. Cook until piping hot all the way through.
