For The Crispiest Fried Fish, Pull Out The Club Soda
There are certain food cravings that can only be satisfied in very specific ways. For instance, if you want noodles, there's a whole world of shapes and sauces out there for you to choose from. If you're feeling more like barbecue, you'll have to narrow it down to which regional style, meat, seasoning, and cooking method you prefer. If you're craving fried fish though, there's not much else that will do. The light tenderness of the fillets combined with the crisp, fatty, fried shell is such a perfect combination that at one point, the United Kingdom was home to 35,000 restaurants devoted to the dish.
As a result, undoubtedly the most famous example of fried fish is Britain's rendition of fish and chips. This practice of frying fish came to the United Kingdom in the 17th century, when Western Sephardic Jews first settled there. They brought their fish frying practices with them, and a culinary tradition was born.
As with all things food-focused, there can be a lot of contention when discussing the perfect way to fry fish. To be fair, there are a lot of mistakes that can happen when frying fish, but there are a few universal truths about what makes a great iteration, and having a crispy exterior might be number one. Thankfully, all you have to do to get that perfect crunch with every bite is to add a splash of club soda to your batter.
What is club soda exactly?
Club soda might seem like a misnomer because it isn't a flavored soft drink. The beverage has more in common with seltzer than Coke or Pepsi. Club soda is water that has been carbonated with carbon dioxide gasses, and additional minerals like potassium sulfate and sodium chloride .
Those minerals are the key difference between sparkling water or seltzer. Seltzer has just the bubbles with no added minerals, and the mineral content of sparkling waters differs greatly depending on the brand, because they are naturally occurring, and therefore dependent on the water's source. Club soda's mineral content is also inconsistent because it depends on the manufacturer's specifications. In essence, though, club soda is an artificial sparkling mineral water.
Really though all three of these bubbly drinks could sub in for each other for this fried fish hack because the bubbles are the key to making the best possible batter. You can either use whatever you have on hand or search out highly carbonated brands like the notoriously effervescent Topo Chico.
How club soda makes the crispiest fried fish
If you've ever heard the term "beer-battered fish" before then you'll know that adding carbonation to a batter isn't a new idea. Besides adding flavor, beer batters also use the added acidity and bubbles to limit gluten development and add lift to the batter itself.
Food & Wine notes that club soda effectively stands in for beer at Automatic Seafood & Oysters in Birmingham, Alabama. It's mixed into the batter at the last possible second to trap the bubbles inside of the batter. When those trapped gasses make contact with the hot oil, they begin to expand and create a more open structure within the crust. All that trapped air results in a light outer shell that crunches loudly with every bite.
Those bubbles will also help to prevent gluten formation just like the beer. This will keep the fried batter light instead of becoming overly dense or chewy because of the gluten strands.