Campfire Cookery: Fish and Chips


Hand’s up…who likes fish and chips? Yep me too!

Recently I wondered if I could take one of the nation’s favourite takeaways and cook it over a camp fire. I also wondered if I could make it a little healthier but without losing that great taste. So here’s what I did:

Ingredients:
  • 1 x Potato 
  • 1 x fillet of fish (I used smoked haddock)
  • A spoonful of butter or cooking oil
  • A pinch of salt and pepper for seasoning
Optional extra’s:
  • A tin of mushy peas
  • A dollop of tartare sauce

Before cooking get your fire established and leave it to burn down to a reasonable bed of coals. Sometimes I like to keep the fire going and then drag some of the coals out to one side for cooking so that I can replenish the coals when the heat dies down.

Alternatively you can just as easily cook this meal on a camping stove, I imagine it will work really well on a trangia as the heat is not quite as focussed or intense as a gas stove and can also be dampened down.

While waiting for the fire you can prep the potato by chopping it into cubes or chips. I chopped mine into cubes as I felt it would cook a bit more efficiently. I then placed the grill/trivet over the coals and put my pan on the grill with the butter (but don’t add all of the butter – save some for the fish).

When the pan was nice and hot and the butter melted I put the potatoes on to cook. These will take about 20-30mins depending on how big you chopped them up. I ensured that they had a nice covering of butter so that they would go crispy and golden.

Add a pinch of salt and pepper seasoning, it’s not necessary but I think it helps to enhance the flavour of the potato.

When you think the potatoes are nearly done, think about putting the mushy peas on to cook. You can do this by pouring them into a pan/canteen cup or just leave them in the tin can, remove the paper label and place on the grill or in the coals. Be sure to stir the peas regularly so that they don’t burn on the bottom, they only need to be warmed through so take it off the heat as soon as it starts bubbling up.

Make some space on the pan for your fish, add your remaining butter and then the fish (skin side down if possible). Depending on the heat of your fire, the fish won’t take very long to cook, flip it over after about 3 minutes. You’ll know it’s cooked when you can start to flake the fish apart.

And that’s it, I made space on the pan for my peas and then added a smattering of tartare sauce (aren’t I posh!!). Alternatively a dollop of tomato sauce would be just as nice!

It looked and tasted lovely and best of all, it smelt just like fish and chips!!

Give it a go and let me know how you get on.

Thanks as always for reading, please feel free to subscribe so that you can receive notifications of my future blog posts.

Comments

  1. This is brilliant! I am definitely going to try this. I actually haven't done fish over the fire at all yet and definitely something I want to do, especially a with fresh fish. Great job!

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    Replies
    1. Would you be willing to share this article on my site too? I'm after a really good mix of recipes for camping. Obviously everything will be credited to you and this site!

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    2. Hello matey, can thoroughly recommend this dish, it was one of my fav's. And yes of course you're very welcome to share on your blog. Did you get the e-mail that I send you the other day?

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    3. Sorry mate, I don't have anything. Try again if you want: intothesticks@hotmail.com

      Delete
  2. My son recently came away with me and he got twice cooked chips in sunflower oil no less. He loved them but they didn't stop him missing WiFi :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi, thanks for checking out my blog - I enjoy reading yours too! Well done on deep frying chips out in the field, it always strikes me as being a bit of a logistical challenge. Not much you can do about the Wi-Fi though unfortunately, one day I'm sure he'll identify with the beauty of the analog world!

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  3. This I've gotta try. Likely on my camp stove and I don't usually have the option for a fire. Might par-cook the spuds. Gotta have mushy peas.

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  4. Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with extra information? It is extremely helpful for me. Desert camp in Jaisalmer

    ReplyDelete

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