Making Batter for Deep-Frying

In December, my studies at New Oriental Cooking School entered a new stage. We started to learn how to make batter, and then use the batter to coat the pieces of food for deep-frying. After deep-frying the ingredients until golden brown, we took the fried food out of the oil. However, some deep-fried dishes need to be fried twice. Such dishes always have a crisp texture and fragrant aroma.  

So, how do we make a good batter? What should we do when faced with different kinds of food? Batter can produce crusts with soft, hard, or crispy textures after frying. Which texture is best for each type of food? What skills do we need to master to skillfully face various dishes that require batter? Let us learn together! 

Making soft batter for deep-fried vegetables 

When we want to fry vegetables, such as our fried shiitake mushrooms, we make a soft batter. For a soft batter we use flour, cornstarch, water, and egg white. The ratio of flour to cornstarch is 2:1. The egg whites need to be beaten with a whisk to a thick white foam before being added to the batter. The role of egg white in this batter is to make the batter soft after frying. Add an appropriate amount of water to the mixed flour and cornstarch, and mix well.  

What is the correct amount of water? First of all, we add a small amount of water to make the mixed powder stick together and mix well. Then repeat, adding a little water each time, and stirring evenly. Until we grab the batter with our hands, the batter will turn into a smooth linear drop, then the batter is 90% complete. When the batter reaches the desired consistency, let us add the egg whites that have turned into thick foam and stir well. Then the batter is finished and ready for coating the food. 

Making hard batter 

There is no big difference between hard batter and soft batter, and their preparation process is almost the same. The difference is that the hard batter does not need to use egg white, because the egg white will make the batter become a soft crust after being fried. 

Making crispy batter for deep-frying meat

This is the more difficult of the three batters because it uses new ingredients: baking powder and custard powder. The function of baking powder is to make the dough ferment quickly. Using it to make the batter can make the batter fluffy after frying. The role of custard powder here is to increase the fragrance and make the color look good. This batter is usually used for meat. 

NOTE: The custard powder is not instant custard powder, but the egg-free version based on corn flour.

How to make a crispy batter

1. The ratio of flour to cornstarch is 2 (2.5):1. Baking powder and custard powder need to be added in an appropriate amount. You can see if the color of the batter is satisfactory, and then add custard powder according to your preference. (It is usually light yellow after adding water.) You don’t need to add a lot of baking powder. For one serving of ingredients, you usually need to add 5-8 grams of baking powder to the batter. Then stir well. 

2. Add water in batches and stir it counterclockwise and clockwise until we grab the batter with our hands and it becomes a smooth thread falling down. Note: The batter in this step does not need to be too thin. 

3.  Add a small amount of oil, depending on the amount of batter. Add 6-10ml of oil to the batter for one person. Stir well and let stand for 10-20 minutes. The role of oil here is to make the batter more crispy. 

The crispy batter envelops the ingredients and deep-fried them. The shape should be round and smooth. The texture is crispy. 

Testing the batter

When making this batter, as a novice, I had some problems. First, we take a single piece of vegetable, dip it into the batter, and put it in the hot oil of 150°-180° C  (302°-356° F) for deep-frying. After removing it from the oil, we judge the quality of the batter:

• When the surface of the fried batter is not smooth, but shows the shape of the food itself, and the skin is wrinkled, then we have too much cornstarch. How can we solve this problem? We just need to add some baking powder, flour and water to the batter again and mix well.
• If the surface of the fried food batter is round but elastic, it means that we have added too much flour. We only need to add baking powder, water, and a small amount of cornstarch again.
• When there are many cracked bubbles on the surface of the batter after frying, we have added too much baking powder. At this time, we need to add flour and cornstarch to the batter again and mix well. 

Tips for Making Deep-fry Batter 

• If the batter is too thin, we can add flour, cornstarch, etc. If the batter is too thick, add water. But we still have to master the dosage and don’t waste these ingredients. Those methods can save the batter, but it is also possible that you have a too much batter.  
• The environment can affect the quality of the batter. The temperature in winter is low, slowing the reaction for the baking powder. The reaction time in the batter is too long, so we need to add a little more baking powder and let it stand for a longer time.  
• The quality of the ingredients can also affect the batter. A good baking powder can quickly react in the batter to make it after frying. The batter becomes fluffy.
• There are two types of custard powder for baking pastries and for cooking. We can use both, but the one used for cooking is better.  

Summary

Making batter is an interesting challenge. My teacher has 20 years of cooking experience, but he still needs to try and judge the degree of the batter in hot oil.

We can’t tell with our eyes whether the batter is perfect, only after it passes through the hot oil can we see the result. Therefore, it is important to test. We cannot rely on theoretical knowledge alone. Only when we practice it ourselves can we get our own experience. In a way, failure is not terrible, we need the experience of failure to succeed. 

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