4 Bites: Batter

Thick and malty, light and extra crunchy, or gluten-free, make one of these your signature batter.

Tempura batter

1. Place ½ cup self-raising flour and ½ tsp salt in a bowl. Whisk in 1 egg, the zest of ½ lime, a little pepper and approximately ½ cup of cold, fizzy water, enough to make a thin batter.
2. Dip thinly sliced chunks of fresh vegetables (eggplant, courgette, fennel bulb, cavolo nero, etc.) into the batter and fry in clean, hot vegetable oil until crispy. Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with sea salt and serve with a squeeze of fresh lime and a dipping sauce. Get the recipe

Beer batter

1. Sift ¼ cup self-raising flour with ½ cup fine cornmeal flour and ¼ tsp each of salt and ground pepper. Whisk in ½ cup of cold beer — or enough to make a thickish batter. Chill.
2. Dip pieces of fish, seafood, par-boiled sausages, or even fruit (banana, peach) into the batter, and fry in hot vegetable oil until golden. Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with sea salt or icing sugar and serve with an appropriate sauce. Get the recipe

Gluten-free batter

1. Sift ⅔ cup rice flour with ½ tsp each of baking powder and salt. Mix ½ cup of dry white wine with enough cold water to measure ⅔ cup total and whisk thoroughly into flour to form a thin batter.
2. Dip a medley of seafoods (calamari rings, baby squid, raw prawns, mussels), slices of lemon, fennel bulb, broccolini and curly parsley, through the batter, and fry in hot oil. Drain, season with sea salt flakes and serve with a lemon or chipotle aioli. Get the recipe

Boyd’s snapper batter

1. Sift ⅔ cup self-raising flour with ½ tsp salt. Whisk in 2 Tbsp malt vinegar and ½ cup chilled water, or enough to make a thickish batter. Chill.
2. Lightly coat even-sized pieces of snapper (tarakihi, trevally or otherwise) in seasoned flour, dredge in the batter and fry in hot oil until crispy and golden. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes and serve with a squeeze of lemon juice or a splash of vinegar and homemade tartare sauce. Get the recipe