Adam Liaw’s fish pakoras plus his beginner’s guide to deep-frying

Deep-frying 101

Deep-frying at home is nothing to be scared of. Here’s how I do it.

• I use vegetable oil or canola for deep-frying and only half-fill a small saucepan with about 500-600ml of the oil. This allows me to deep-fry in batches rather than having to use lots of oil and fry in big batches.
• I use an infrared thermometer to check the temperature, and I highly recommend them. A rougher measure is the cube-of-bread test, in which a small cube of white bread will brown in 15-20 seconds at 180C.
• Always fry in small batches and skim off any batter or crumb bits in the oil. This will stop those bits burning and help to keep your oil fresh.
• Drain what you’re frying on a wire rack rather than paper. A rack allows more oil to drip off and for air to circulate so that your fried food crisps. If you don’t have a wire rack, you can use paper.
• After frying, keep your oil covered and you can reuse it for about a week. When it becomes too dark or starts to smell stale, it’s time to throw it out.
• The best way to discard old frying oil is to pour it into a sealed container such as an old jar or bottle and drop it in the bin. Don’t pour it down the sink!