appetites

Fried Grouper
I used a batter made of club soda and flour, mixed fairly thick. I cut the fish into pieces diagonally from the fillets, and was very pleased with the result. It’s not what you’d get if you order “fried fish” in New Orleans, but every once in a while I really enjoy a light, crispy batter. It would have gone just as well with fries, but I had some sunchokes I needed to cook, so that’s what I ended up with.
The recipe I had called for around a cup of club soda to 3/4 cup of flour, but either I screwed up the measurements, or the recipe was wrong, because those amounts wound up being far, far too thin. The recipe (as well as a few others I consulted) suggested that time was of the essence after the batter was made, so it wasn’t a matter of waiting for the flour to “hydrate.”
If you are interested in making this kind of batter (or a similar batter made with beer) I would recommend the following. Start with around 3/4 cup of all purpose flour in a fairly large bowl. Add just enough of your carbonated beverage to make a paste with the flour, then slowly add enough to make a batter that reminds you of what you’d get if you were making pancakes. Don’t stir too much, and a few lumps are okay.
Add whatever you’re going to cook, and then fry away. For the Grouper, I went to around 350°, but I suppose that could vary, and then too, my fry-thermometer could be off.
As I suggested above, the results you’ll get with this batter are light and crispy. My next target is bananas, with a honey and/or chocolate sauce, over ice cream.