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I made a deep-fried Mars bar today. When I was initially lowering it in the oil I held it with tongs, and when I released, the part where the tongs were touching had left the chocolate exposed. I hurriedly fished it back out, holding it by another part (already slightly crisped by then) and dipped it back in the batter to seal the exposed part. It worked ok but I couldn't help thinking there's a better way.

Chris A
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2 Answers2

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Put in on a stick. Depending on the size of the bar a toothpick may be sufficient. Just make sure the batter covers the stick a little where it goes into the bar.

Debbie M.
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Dunk the tongs in the batter too, or use your fingers. It should just kind of seal itself then, as you let go.

Watch an experienced traditional chip-shop owner putting the fish in*. Fish & fingers go in the batter, fish is gently laid in the fryer, fingers are kept cool by the batter. You never see any remaining finger-holes left in the batter by doing it this way.

*or a traditional tempura chef if you've never been in a British chippy, though I'd have thought you must have at least seen a Glaswegian one if you're doing the Mars bars;)

Just for fun, if no-one gets the references , including those in the comments below…

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Also see Stonner Kebab and Deep Fried Mars Bar

Tetsujin
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  • Or rural Wisconsin @Tetsujin, they'll deep fry anything there. Cheese curds (yum), pizza (not yum), chocolate bars (why?), turkey gizzards (please god no). – GdD Nov 23 '20 at 11:41
  • I did once see an article on deep-fried butter sticks in that part of the world. Personally I've never tried the Glaswegian specials, though I did once see advertised in a Glasgow chippy, "Deep-fried donner kebab" & another sign that said "We will deep-fry anything". ;) – Tetsujin Nov 23 '20 at 11:43
  • How do you deep-fry a kebab and keep it together? – GdD Nov 23 '20 at 11:44
  • I have never seen one made. Your guess is as good as mine, tbh. – Tetsujin Nov 23 '20 at 11:45
  • Yeah I'm English so been a few hundred times :D The ones I've seen just seem to have a huge pool of oil into which they lower the battered fish down to, but not including, their fingers and then drop it in the rest of the way and then fish it out (scuse the pun!) with a bit slotted spoon type thing. I'm using a 1L mini fryer with a basket so not sure that would be possible. – Chris A Nov 23 '20 at 11:48
  • I don't actually know if the deep fried kebab existed even as an idea before the Avengers movie, though the 'stonner kebab' definitely did. Sausage wrapped in kebab meat, battered & deep fried. – Tetsujin Nov 23 '20 at 11:48
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    Chris - I've done fish myself (under expert supervision) in a mini fryer, though it was a commercial portable made for the task. If you can't reach in to retrieve it, I'd put a basket or even a sieve in first, so the lift is easier. – Tetsujin Nov 23 '20 at 11:51
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    I already use the basket, I probably just need to use the fingers rather than tongs when lowering in. The thought of actually putting my fingers in the oil (even with batter on) seems like a hospital visit waiting to happen though! – Chris A Nov 23 '20 at 12:02
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    Batter doesn't spurt much @ChrisA, the water is trapped in the batter you see. You have to be careful with anything frozen though, always drop frozen chips or fries in using the basket. – GdD Nov 23 '20 at 12:06
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    The guys at the chippy do it a hundred times a day. I've done it once;) It does have 2 distinct advantages, 1) you're not dropping it from a height, so there's no splash & 2) you can accurately place each piece so it doesn't touch others already in the fryer, so doesn't stick. In a tiny fryer it will also prevent any bounce/stick against the basket in the bottom. – Tetsujin Nov 23 '20 at 12:11
  • " In a tiny fryer it will also prevent any bounce/stick against the basket in the bottom." That's the whole reason I'm doing this... – Chris A Nov 23 '20 at 13:08
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    Can I ask, in your three steps "Fish & fingers go in the batter, fish is gently laid in the fryer, fingers are kept cool by the batter" are you saying that in the third it's OK for your batter-coated fingers to come in contact with the oil? The idea scares me and I'm sure I'm not alone... – AakashM Nov 23 '20 at 16:20
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    I'm not entirely sure that the fingers are well protected. I have a friend who, some years ago, used to work at the grill station in a fast food place. She has permanently lost some sensitivity in her fingers because of handling of too hot food on a regular basis - not as much as to count herself disabled, but she is no longer as flink in knitting as she used to be, for example. – rumtscho Nov 23 '20 at 16:38
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    I've done it with fish, just the once, as already mentioned. I've seen this guy do it many times with tempura, when I used to go to Japan a lot we would always try to get into his restaurant (he only did one sitting per night, tough to get in) - https://nextshark.com/japanese-chef-hands-cook-tempura-oil/ though he may be one of the most 'relaxed' I've ever seen do it - and there's this related question - https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/81779/how-do-tempura-chefs-touch-350-degree-oil-without-being-burned – Tetsujin Nov 23 '20 at 16:55
  • I've saw deep fried kebabs in a chippy that I know I last visited in about 2001 – Chris H Nov 24 '20 at 10:51
  • @rumtscho What's "flink"? – Graham Nov 24 '20 at 11:57
  • @Graham It seems to be Yiddish (from German) for “nimble”. – Konrad Rudolph Nov 24 '20 at 11:59
  • @KonradRudolph Interesting - I guess there must be a knitting subculture with their own slang then. :) I googled but could only find an "Apple Flink". – Graham Nov 24 '20 at 12:02
  • @graham there isn't such a subculture, i just didn't notice I'm using a German word on an English sentence. – rumtscho Nov 24 '20 at 17:30
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    Having revisited this with a live fryer full of bubbling oil, and it hissing before I even got my fingers there, I can firmly say there's no way I'm holding my fingers in there. I have seen videos of it being done for a few seconds as a trick, but sane chippy staff do not need to do it - holding it down to the oil level and dropping it in is sufficient. – Chris A Nov 25 '20 at 13:46