Just Add One Breakfast Ingredient To Fried Fish For A Crispier Restaurant-Style Sandwich

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Whether it's a Cuban pan con minuta in the heart of Miami or a humble Filet-O-Fish from your local McDonald's, a fried fish sandwich is an enticing prospect, so you don't want to fall short when preparing one yourself. Don't be intimidated — the next time you feel a hankering for battered seafood, prepare for crispier, restaurant-style results thanks to the common breakfast ingredient Bisquick.

If you've never reached for this pantry staple for anything other than pancakes, you're sleeping on Bisquick's sheer versatility. Being a pre-mixed combination of flour, shortening, baking powder, sugar, and salt, Bisquick is commonly regarded as a handy time-saver, but it has far greater utility than mere convenience when used in a batter for fish. Typically, fried fish recipes calling for Bisquick involve a beer batter, and for good reason — the carbon dioxide in beer will introduce bubbles to the batter, making it light rather than tough, while the beer's foaming agent will prevent the bubbles from popping too soon.

A simple Bisquick beer batter requires 1 cup of Bisquick Original Pancake & Baking Mix (plus a few additional tablespoons for coating your fish prior to it being battered), ½ cup of your preferred beer, 1 large egg, and ½ teaspoon of salt. After beating these ingredients together until smooth, dip your fish in the batter, making sure they are well-coated, then fry in oil with a high smoke point like canola until golden brown in color (remember to check these 11 essential tips from a trained chef for cooking with a deep fryer if that's what you're using).

The beauty of a Bisquick beer batter is that each element of the baking mix will bring something useful to the party. The baking powder in Bisquick will also aerate the batter, rendering it less dense and making it puff up as it cooks. Don't assume using two ingredients to achieve similar results is redundant — adding one or more leavening agents to a beer batter is the secret to fried fish that are tender, crunchy, but pleasingly un-chewy. When used in batter, shortening — a catch-all term for fats or oils, and in Bisquick's case, vegetable oils — will produce a delicate, flaky texture. The sugar will bring a subtle sweetness, while the salt will provide a flavorful contrast.

You should feel free to modify your Bisquick batter with any spices you feel would complement your fried fish — common additions include garlic powder, Old Bay, or a Cajun spice mix you can make yourself. Some cooks, such as the English celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, favor adding vodka to beer batter, since the alcohol will evaporate faster as the fish fries, leaving it even more delectably crispy. Alternatively, you could take inspiration from the non-beer booze we recommend for making onion rings, and swap out the brewski for a similarly carbonated Prosecco. After that, all you need do is slice some lemon, whip up some tartar sauce, and break out the malt vinegar.