Beer battered ahi with homemade tartar sauce! My mouth is watering. This batter is light, crispy, and perfect for any kind of fish, not only ahi. The tartar sauce is loaded with fresh dill and homemade pickles.
I begin by making the tartar sauce. This recipe calls for minced onions, garlic, and pickles. I chopped them by hand but you can also use a food processor or whatever you are comfortable with. If using a food processor be aware that over chopping can release a lot of juices and make your sauce watery. Mince 1/4 cup of sweet onion (about 1/4 whole onion). For the pickles, I used 1/2 cup my Dillicious Pickles (2-3 spears), but you can substitute your own pickles or pickle relish.
Mince 1/2 teaspoon fresh garlic about 2 cloves and 2 teaspoons fresh dill. You can substitute dry dill (3/4 tsp), but I highly recommend you use fresh. Dry does have a lot of flavor, but fresh has a brighter springier taste. Now that all the chopping is done, mix in all the other ingredients and refrigerate until fish is ready for dipping.
At this point, I start heating up my oil. Depending on the size of your pot, it could take 20 minutes for the oil to get to 375 degrees. You want the oil to be nice and hot before you start adding your fish. The fish I cut in long triangle pieces 3 inches long and about 1 inch at the widest point. For more information on cutting ahi check out my post Breaking down half an ahi tuna. Season all sides of the fish with salt and pepper. The batter is fast and easy. Just mix the dry ingredients and add the beer. The cornstarch really makes this batter crispy and the baking powder helps to make it light. I used a lager beer for the batter because it has a light crisp flavor, but play around you might find you like an IPA or brown ale better. Once everything is ready, dip the fish into the batter, you want to have a good coating on it, and drop one at a time into the oil. When adding the fish I drag it through the oil to set the batter. This will prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan or to the other fish. Cook until golden. Drain fish on paper towels and season with salt. Now for the best part eating! Serve with your homemade tartar sauce and some fresh lemon wedges.
Beer Battered Ahi with Tartar Sauce
Ingredients
- 10 ounces Ahi tuna
- Salt and Pepper
- 1 each lemon to garnish
Beer Batter
- 1/2 cup AP flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 6 ounces lager beer
Tartar Sauce
- 1 cup mayonaise
- 1/4 cup onion minced
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp fresh dill chopped 3/4 tsp dry dill
- 1/2 cup Dillicious Pickles or other dill pickles minced
- 1/2 tsp worchestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic minced
- 1 1/2 tsp grain mustard
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Instructions
Tartar Sauce
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready for use.
Beer Batter
- Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. Then mix in the beer.
Beer Battered Fish
- Heat a pot with oil on medium high heat until it reaches 375 degrees.
- Season the fish with salt and pepper.
- Add fish to the beer batter. Then drop one at a time into the hot oil. Cook until golden brown. Drain fish on paper towels and season with salt.
- Serve fish with homemade tartar sauce and fresh lemon slices
