what is a scant tablespoon?

[Maz]

I want to make this batter recipe, but what is a scant tablespoon in the list of ingredients?
Does anyone know?

http://www.deliaonline.com/articles/food/basic-fish-batter,1415,AR.html

cheers

 

[Landslide]

Landslide's Dictionary of Weird Cooking Definitions lists it as "a tablespoon's worth of substance that inevitably loses some of its contents on its way to being added to the mixture"
I think what Delia's trying to say is 5 fluid oz and a bit.

Happy cooking!

 

[Pete]

Can't make sense of that, in the context of the recipe. One tablespoon is about 15 ml, so maybe a 'scant' tablespoon is about 10ml? Why not just say "160ml water" instead of "150ml and a scant tablespoon"?

Batters can be a bit finicky; and accurate proportions of ingredients matter up to a point, but not that accurate! I don't know about fish batters, but I'd imagine it's got to be of a consistency that you can dip the fish in the batter, and it sticks to it. If it's so thin, it runs straight off the fish back into the bowl, no good. If it's so thick, you can only spread it on the fish with a plasterer's trowel - no good. Experiment!

 

[Maz]

Cheers fellas. I don't think that extra 'scant' made a jot of difference - I think Delia was just trying to big herself up by making it sound like she knew what she was on about. The haddock tasted spot on.

All these tv cooks are the same..."I like to use freshly-picked oregano flown in on the day from a small village in Sicily, but if you can't manage that you can always use the dried-up stuff from Tesco, you proletariat scum!"

 

[Pete]

Seems to have gone OK for you then, but my wife is just telling me that batter without eggs or some other binding agent, doesn't sound right. Good Housekeeping gives the recipe as:
125g plain white flour
pinch of salt
1 egg
150 ml milk (or milk/water mix)
This is pretty much the same as pancake batter but with less milk, so it's rather stiffer. You mix the flour salt and egg first, then slowly beat in the milk.

Gram flour makes a good sticky batter without eggs, just mix in with water and seasoning (and spices if appropriate), useful if you need to cook vegan. I use it to make rather tasty pakoras, which some of the cycling fraternity have sampled...

 

[Maz]

Seems to have gone OK for you then, but my wife is just telling me that batter without eggs or some other binding agent, doesn't sound right. Good Housekeeping gives the recipe as:
125g plain white flour
pinch of salt
1 egg
150 ml milk (or milk/water mix)
This is pretty much the same as pancake batter but with less milk, so it's rather stiffer. You mix the flour salt and egg first, then slowly beat in the milk.

Gram flour makes a good sticky batter without eggs, just mix in with water and seasoning (and spices if appropriate), useful if you need to cook vegan. I use it to make rather tasty pakoras, which some of the cycling fraternity have sampled...

Thanks for the batter recipe, pete.
Mmmm pakoras - luv 'em hot with ketchup!

 

[Pete]

Mmmm pakoras - luv 'em hot with ketchup!

Try this then (sorry about the ego trip): one of my fave. recipes and a bit of a tour de force. Well worth the effort. I've since made a slight change, increase the amount of gram flour to 8oz, and go easy on the oil and only shallow fry - seems to work better. The thread dates from the days when I inhabited another place...
Pakora recipe.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Seems to have gone OK for you then, but my wife is just telling me that batter without eggs or some other binding agent, doesn't sound right. Good Housekeeping gives the recipe as:
125g plain white flour
pinch of salt
1 egg
150 ml milk (or milk/water mix)
This is pretty much the same as pancake batter but with less milk, so it's rather stiffer. You mix the flour salt and egg first, then slowly beat in the milk.

When I worked in the chippy in Gargrave in North Yorkshire (home of the best fish and chips in the world) we made our batter by the bucketful using only flour, water (or maybe milk ... it's a long time ago now!) and a little bicarb. Delicious, and not an egg in sight!

 

[Dave5N]

When I worked in the chippy in Gargrave in North Yorkshire (home of the best fish and chips in the world) we made our batter by the bucketful using only flour, water (or maybe milk ... it's a long time ago now!) and a little bicarb. Delicious, and not an egg in sight!

And so cost-effective.

Anyway, you're a chippy, a lorry driver and a trained musician?

Bet you're dead posh an' slummin' it really then?

 

[Dayvo]

I want to make this batter recipe, but what is a scant tablespoon in the list of ingredients?
Does anyone know?

I think it's used to measure the amount of disregard you need!

 

[Arch]

Now if it had been for dry goods, I'd have suggested it menat 'not heaped', but that doesn't apply to liquid really (meniscus notwithstanding). So I'd assume a not quite full one - I'd say it was a way of saying "you need at least 5floz, and possibly a bit more - so play it by ear as you go...."

 

[longers]

How was the fish then Maz?

 

[Maz]

How was the fish then Maz?

Very nice indeed!

 

[longers]

You tease!


What sort of fish? Did you have mushy peas?

 

[Maz]

You tease!


What sort of fish? Did you have mushy peas?

Haddock, but no mushy peas...I didn't have any polystyrene cups for authenticity.