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What kind of fish would one get in parts of the UK? Is it a regional or individual shop preference?

If it doesn't say, it'll usually be cod or haddock.

Though usually it says what type of fish it is.

Cod is the go-to option, you usually get a generously-sized slab of it unless the place is particularly stingey about it.

Indeed, the better ones tell you what it is, and, bizarrely, where the potatoes used for the chips come from.

I'm fairly lucky living in a large fishing port - we probably get more variety of battered fish options than most others.

Cod has been the traditional go to although certainly here (Edinburgh) it's become less common over the last decade or so and haddock is more or less the norm now.

Dartzap wrote:Indeed, the better ones tell you what it is, and, bizarrely, where the potatoes used for the chips come from.

Seems sweet potato fries is getting common in the states, it would certainly be interesting to also order different varieties with the fish.

Soontir C'boath wrote:

Dartzap wrote:Indeed, the better ones tell you what it is, and, bizarrely, where the potatoes used for the chips come from.

Seems sweet potato fries is getting common in the states, it would certainly be interesting to also order different varieties with the fish.

Ask for sweet potato fries in most chippies in Britain and you'll be met which a blank stare and a polite 'You what mate?'

cod normally. Tilpia in a few places. We've eaten pretty much all the fish in our waters now.

I recommend ordering plaice instead, if it's on the menu. Not only is it more sustainable (cod has been overfished to the edge of extinction), I find it tastes better.

Its been my experience (though its been a long time since I ate fish and chips) that haddock is superior to cod, in any case.

Not sure how other fish stack up- to my knowledge, I've only ever had haddock and cod fish and chips.

My local chippy has Cod and Haddock. There are actual Fish & Chip restaurants in this country which I'm guessing have other varieties, never actually went in one.

Chimaera wrote:

Soontir C'boath wrote:

Dartzap wrote:Indeed, the better ones tell you what it is, and, bizarrely, where the potatoes used for the chips come from.

Seems sweet potato fries is getting common in the states, it would certainly be interesting to also order different varieties with the fish.

Ask for sweet potato fries in most chippies in Britain and you'll be met which a blank stare and a polite 'You what mate?'

Ask for "fries" in a chip shop and you'd probably get thrown out.

Fries are sad thin soggy things you get in mcdonalds. Chips are mighty chunks of actual potato.

The chippy I worked in for a summer did (and still does) cod, haddock, plaice, rock salmon, scampi and skate. Despite working there and having a hefty staff discount I never tried the fish (never been a fish person really) and had the battered sausages instead.

Also, it will make a difference what the shop uses in it's deep fryer. Most places use vegetable oil these days but a few (like my place) still fry in beef fat, and that really does make a difference to the food.

Oh, yeah, that reminds me. If the chippy offers Spam fritters, try one. They're amazing.

Zaune wrote:Oh, yeah, that reminds me. If the chippy offers Spam fritters, try one. They're amazing.

No, "amazing" isn't a spam fritter, "amazing" is a deep fried Mars Bar.

FWIW, I don't get fish & chips from the chip shop these days, it's very much on the expensive side. Bags of frozen big chunky oven chips, and four-in-a-box packs of frozen battered fish fillets, are much cheaper. Usually cod, although I do also have a nice bit of plaice sitting in the freezer until later on in the week.

Om nom nom.

<burp>

Pollock is often a cod replacement in lower end Fish and Chip shops. If a shop says: Fish, Haddock, Plaice, likely the generic "Fish" is pollock rather than Cod, most customers can't / don't tell the difference. at least that was my experience when I worked in F&C shop a while back.

I'm a haddock man, myself. The flavor's similar to cod, but I like the texture better.

Ghetto Edit: Fun Fact: What the US Army calls UO (for "Urban Operations") is called FISH & CHIPS in the UK (for "Fighting in Someone's House and Causing Havok in People's Streets"). I've always loved that.