‘Fish’ and chips with tartare sauce and mushy minted peas

Serves 4-5

For the chips

— 5 medium Maris Piper

potatoes

— 2 tbsp plain flour

— 4 tbsp olive oil

For the ‘fish’

— approximately 1 litre

sunflower oil

— 1 x 400g firm block of tofu, drained and excess water removed

— 1 large (20 x 18cm) sheet

of nori

— juice of 1 lemon

— 50g plain flour

— 50g cornflour

— 75ml vegan beer

— 75ml soda water

— pinch sea salt

For the mushy minted peas — 2 shallots, finely chopped — olive oil, for frying

— 300g frozen peas

— 235ml vegetable stock — 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice — 1 tbsp finely chopped

fresh mint

For the tartare sauce

— 250g ‘mayonnaise’ (see box) — 3 tbsp capers, drained and

roughly chopped

— 3 tbsp roughly

chopped gherkins

— 1 small shallot,

finely chopped

— 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

— 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4 and line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Wash and slice the potatoes into chip shapes of your choice. I like chunky chips and I also leave the skin on, but it’s up to you if you want to peel them or not. Cover the chips with water in a large saucepan, add a pinch of salt, then place over a medium heat.

Bring to the boil, boil for 2 minutes, then drain. Parboiling the chips helps create a super-soft inside – I highly recommend doing this if you like your chips chunky.

Spread the par-boiled chips on the baking tray and sprinkle with the plain flour, making sure each chip is lightly covered. Drizzle over the olive oil and season with

salt and pepper, then bake for around 25-30 minutes, or until golden and crispy.

While your chips are cooking, it’s time to make the ‘fish’ element.

Pour the sunflower oil into a large saucepan set over a medium heat, or a deep-fat fryer set to 180C. If using a saucepan, only half fill it, to prevent it overflowing when you put the tofu in.

Cut the tofu block into rectangles or fillet shapes. Using scissors, cut the nori sheet into pieces the same shape and size as the tofu fillets. The nori resembles fish skin and also has a great taste-of-the-sea flavour.

Lay the nori on to the tofu and squeeze over some of the lemon juice to help it stick. Set aside while you quickly whisk up your beer batter.

Combine the flours and salt in a mixing bowl, then pour in the beer and water. Mix together with a wooden spoon until it forms a thick batter. Set aside to rest for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, make the mushy minted peas. Sauté the shallots in a saucepan with a little olive oil, until soft. Add the peas, stock and lemon juice, and cook over a medium heat until piping hot. Use a hand stick blender to blitz until mushy, then stir in the mint and a pinch of seasoning. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Combine all the ingredients for the tartare sauce in a mixing bowl with some seasoning, then set aside until ready to serve.

At this point your oil should be hot enough to cook the tofu. You should be able to see a light haze coming off the top of the oil in the saucepan: to be sure, drop a cube of bread into the oil – if it floats to the top quickly and turns golden, your oil is hot enough.

Dip each piece of nori-lined tofu into the batter individually and then lower into the oil very carefully. Cook until the batter is golden, for approximately 4 minutes, then transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain off excess oil. Sprinkle with salt.

Remove the chips from the oven and serve with the tofu fish, mushy peas and tartare sauce.