America's Test Kitchen

-Today on "America's Test Kitchen," Julia makes Bridget crispy fish sandwiches, Adam shares his top pick for pepper mills, Jack challenges Julia and Bridget to a taste-off of horseradish, Dan shares the science of leftover fry oil, and Keith makes Julia Rhode Island-style fried calamari.

It's all coming up right here on "America's Test Kitchen."

-What's the saying?

You give a man a fish and he eats for the day?

If you teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime.

And if Julia fries that fish and puts it in a sandwich, I'll be over for dinner.

What's for dinner?

-Nice.

Fried fish sandwiches -- the classic New England sandwich.

But lots can go wrong.

That crust has to be really good and crisp.

It has to crunch when you bite into it.

The fish cannot be overcooked.

Devil's in the details here.

-Okay.

-We're gonna get started with the batter.

So here's 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour to that 1/2 cup of cornstarch.

The flour builds gluten.

It sticks to the fish.

The cornstarch gets crisp, and as the batter fries, you get a nice lacy texture, so you need both.

-Okay.

-To this, we're gonna add a little bit of salt.

That's 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, which as you know, will help the coating brown and create a little bit of lift.

-Mm-hmm.

-And it's gonna create lift with the magic ingredients.

This is a nice, mild lager, 3/4 cup.

You know, you don't want to use a thick stout because it'll just have too much flavor.

-Yeah.

-You just want a little bit of that malty flavor, and you want the bubbles.

-Right.

Carbonation and a little bit of malt.

-That's it.

You can substitute seltzer if you wanted to, but the beer has a little bit of that malty flavor, which is really nice.

Alright, you want to whisk all those lumps out.

So cover this with plastic wrap, and you really have to let it rest.

You have to let all those starches and flours hydrate, and the batter will get a little thicker.

So we're gonna put it in the fridge.

But first I'm gonna make the tartar sauce because it also has to go in the fridge.

-That's right.

-And I'm gonna start with mayonnaise -- 3/4 cup of mayonnaise.

Now, we just need a little bit of shallot, about 1 1/2 teaspoons of shallot.

Just gonna mince it up here.

I just like the mild flavor.

You can add it to something raw.

So just a few more ingredients.

This is 2 tablespoons of capers, and I rinsed them and chopped them.

Sweet relish.

2 tablespoons of that.

1 1/2 teaspoons of white vinegar.

A little briny flavor there.

And the key is "Wish-ta-shush-shire" sauce.

-That's right.

-Which I've never been able to say, and I've given up.

I've come to the age where I just can't say it.

-Worcestershire.

-There you go.

1/2 teaspoon of that.

Homemade tartar sauce, nothing better.

-Nothing better.

-The store-bought stuff just doesn't hold a candle to making your own.

So both of these are going into the fridge.

The real key to remember is the batter has to be refrigerated for 20 minutes.

-Okay, sounds good.

Well, our batter uses both flour and cornstarch to create a flavorful, crisp crust.

Cornstarch is almost pure starch.

It remains light and crisp and stays that way for a long time.

The problem is that once fried, a batter made only with cornstarch is pale and bland in flavor.

Cornstarch lacks protein, which is necessary for the Maillard reaction to happen during cooking.

This produces a deeper color and more flavor.

Now, wheat flour, which also contains starch, does contain protein.

When it's used to make a batter, that protein absorbs a lot of water, which forms gluten.

Once fried, the resulting coating can be tough and chewy at first, but eventually becomes soft and soggy over time as the protein releases that water.

Our recipe augments the flour with cornstarch, creating a batter with just the right amount of protein.

The resulting crust is flavorful, browned, and stays crisp.

-Alright, Bridget, that batter has rested, and it's time to get frying.

Two quarts of oil.

Love peanut oil, but if you want to use vegetable oil, you could use that, too.

-Okay.

-Medium-high heat, 375 degrees.

The other thing I should mention is you want to use a nice, big Dutch oven -- at least 7 quarts -- because you want the headroom, so it's not gonna make a mess.

Alright.

So here we have the fish.

Today we're having haddock.

You could also use cod or halibut.

-Mmm.

-If you've ever had a halibut sandwich, it is my all-time favorite.

-Great.

-But haddock is delicious.

-Yes.

-But notice they're all white fish.

They're all firm flesh, so they'll hold up in the oil.

-So super-delicate, flaky flounder or something, just bypass that.

-That's right.

-Okay.

-Alright.

So these filets are on the big side if you notice.

You want them between 4 and 6 ounces because you want a good, hearty sandwich.

-That's right.

-You also want them skinless.

-Okay.

Yes, that would be a little difficult on a sandwich.

-It would be.

Alright.

So patting them dry first.

Next up, here's the batter that's been resting for 20 minutes.

And you can see, it's thickened up.

It almost looks like glue because you want the batter to stick to the fish.

-Right.

-So this is the perfect consistency.

And no salt and pepper.

-Hmm.

-There's salt in the batter.

We got that tartar sauce coming up.

-Right.

-This is a minimalist sandwich.

You just want to taste the fish and feel the crunch.

Just gonna toss the fish around gently in this batter, every inch coated.

Alright.

So this is ready for the oil.

Let's see where we're at.

377.

Nice.

So medium-high heat.

Now, this is an ancient trick for how to fry a good piece of fish.

Take a dinner fork, stab the fish, hold it up, let the excess batter drip off.

If you use tongs, it wipes off too much of the coating.

-Hmm.

-And then when you add it to the oil, you kind of hold it and drag it around slowly.

That just helps set the batter so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot, and it won't stick to the other pieces of fish.

-You're spearfishing.

-[ Laughs ] It is like spearfishing.

Let it drip, into the oil, drag it along, take it off.

Alright, so these cook for only about four minutes on each side.

You're looking for a nice, dark, golden color.

-Okay.

-Alright, Bridget.

These have been frying for about eight minutes.

I mean, look at that.

-That is amazing.

-In terms of fried fish, it doesn't get any better than that.

Oh.

Oh, beautiful.

Last little guy.

-Mmm!

Mmm!

-Alright.

I'm gonna build our sandwiches.

Here I have some toasted brioche buns, some tartar sauce.

I'm not shy with the tartar sauce.

I hope you're alright with that.

-Gorgeous.

-But the brioche buns -- I mean, they're so buttery and light.

They're good with a fish sandwich.

And a few lettuce leaves.

Bibb lettuce, of course.

Nothing too fancy here.

-Lemon if you'd like.

-Perfect.

You're feeding me a fish sandwich.

The least I can do is give you a beer.

-Ahh.

There's nothing better than an ice-cold brew and a hot fish sandwich.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

-Mmm.

Mmm.

-Mm-hmm.

-The bun is squishy and soft.

-Mm-hmm.

-But the fish is super crisp and really moist inside, juicy.

-And you can taste the fish.

-The fish is so tender, too.

-That nice tartar-sauce finish, but you taste fresh fish.

-It doesn't get better than this.

-Mnh-mnh.

-Thank you.

-Mm-hmm.

-For a fried fish sandwich with an unbelievably crisp and flavorful crust, use both flour and cornstarch in the batter, along with some baking powder and beer for lift, fry thick filets in plenty of oil.

So from "America's Test Kitchen," the ultimate crispy, crunchy, best-ever, crispy fried fish sandwiches.

I'm gonna go right for the fish.

-[ Laughs ] That's what my daughter does.

-Mmm!

They literally have one job, and that is to mill peppercorns.

But so many times, pepper mills fall short.

Luckily for us, Adam's here, and he's gonna tell us which pepper mill we should include in our kitchen.

-You know, Bridget, they do fall short.

-They do.

-They should be easy to load.

-Yes.

-They should be easy to adjust.

-Yes.

-They should grind on target.

And so many of them don't.

-That's right.

-It's a puzzlement.

-It's a travesty.

-It's a travesty.

We got this line-up of seven different pepper mills because our old favorite one had been slightly redesigned... -Okay.

-...and we found some new ones on the market.

We paid a price range of $25 to $50 for these.

There were all the kind that twist from the top because we know from previous tests that that's what we prefer -Instead of the hand crank.

-We don't want the old hand-cranked.

-No.

-Those times are gone.

In terms of job number one, which is getting pepper into them, which you have to do before you grind anything... -Sure.

-...some of them load from the bottom, like this one.

-Mm-hmm.

-Some of them load from the top.

This whole range here, you just unscrew the top and you pour the pepper in.

-Right.

-This one was an exercise in frustration.

It loads from the side.

You have to keep it from rolling around.

-That's right.

-You have to steady it.

This had a fairly small 1-inch opening.

Very frustrating to fill this one.

Some of these, you adjust on the top by unscrewing that thing a little more or a little less.

Testers didn't love that because when they were going for a coarse grind, some of them overdid it and took the top right off of the pepper mill.

-And this was too loose.

-Too loose.

-I see.

-Also, you don't know exactly what you're getting.

It's not super precise.

One of them adjusted from the bottom, this one with the side-entry port.

This one, at least you don't unscrew the top, but it's still hard to know exactly what you're getting.

It's imprecise.

What testers really loved was something like this that has a dial at the bottom.

It has six different settings.

You lock it into a specific grind size.

You know exactly what you're gonna get.

Lots of precision there.

Most of these did a good job in terms of outputting what we wanted them to output.

Certainly, the ones where we knew exactly what we were gonna get were the best.

This was the winner, Bridget.

This is that redesigned version of our old winner.

It's the Cole & Mason Derwent.

It was about $50.

Testers liked it because it was easy to fill.

It's clear, so you can see how many peppercorns are in there.

-So smart.

-Really smart.

And mostly, it was really easy to adjust with this dial.

The output matched the setting exactly.

Testers knew exactly what they were gonna get with this one.

-Well, there you go.

Pepper mill perfection.

And if you want to pick up the winner, it's the Cole & Mason Derwent pepper mill and it runs about 50 bucks.

-Alright, Bridget, this next tasting is a doozy, because it's prepared horseradish.

-I've prepped.

I've waxed my tongue.

Nothing's gonna penetrate it.

Let's go for it.

-Alright.

So, Jack, why are you doing this to us?

-I was curious.

You know, I will tell you, I learned something when we did this with the expert panel.

I assume there's gonna be a huge difference between refrigerated style... -Mm-hmm.

-...and shelf-stable.

I'm thinking, "Oh, isn't refrigerated gonna be better?"

It's not.

So dig in, and I'm gonna explain to you what the difference is.

So the refrigerated are just horseradish, vinegar, and salt.

They start with -- This is horseradish, fresh horseradish.

They grate it.

They add the vinegar, which propels the chemical reaction that creates the intense flavor.

-Hmm.

-Add salt and then it's refrigerated.

Shelf-stable has eggs, cream, oil, obviously preservatives... -Mm-hmm.

-...to keep it shelf-stable.

And while it made a difference in Bloody Marys -- No, I didn't bring a Bloody Mary.

-What's up with that?

I waxed my tongue for nothing.

-But I did bring it in a horseradish cream sauce.

So this is equal parts sour cream and horseradish.

So the big differentiator was not style and where it lived in the supermarket.

But intensity.

-Mm-hmm.

-And our tasters want a horseradish that has some oomph, that makes you wake up.

-Oh!

Whoo-oh-oh!

Mm.

-I don't know.

-I think they left the horse in that one.

-[ Laughing ] That one is a little "barnyardy."

-So now, are you feeling these mostly in your nose rather than in your mouth?

Because horseradish... -Yes.

-...has really small, volatile compounds.

The actual atoms are really small, the molecules.

And they go right up to your nose, so that's where we feel the intensity.

First impressions from you, Bridget, about what you're tasting.

-Well, number three, there is something amiss here.

There's something funky there.

There's a mayonnaisy taste here going on in number one.

-Okay.

-Tastes more like a sauce, something that you just put right over roast beef or something like that.

Number two, it's got a little pack to it, and I kind of like the texture.

It's a little creamy.

Number four's not bad.

It's got a...I don't know.

It's just not wowing me as much as -- I like this one.

It's -- It packs a wallop.

-Oh, your eyes are getting a little glisteny.

-And you're looking a little red.

-I am, aren't I?

-Alright.

So your impressions, Julia -- What are you liking or what are you observing?

-Well, number three is an absolute train wreck.

I mean, it is like drinking something I find under the sink that I use for cleaning.

The balance is way off.

There's an off flavor that's a little chemical.

Not a fan.

Number four, I actually like it.

It has sort of a garlicky finish, which I like.

Number one's very mild compared to the others.

You mentioned you thought it had mayonnaise in it.

I agree.

It's just -- It's lovely and mild.

You could use it right as is on something.

And number two is my absolute favorite.

I will eat this straight out of the jar any day of the week.

I mean, this is lovely.

-Alright.

So two is your favorite.

-Absolutely.

-And three is your least favorite.

-Mm-hmm.

-I think it's fair to say.

-Yeah.

-And are you in agreement?

-Two, favorite, three, least favorite.

I would say I kind of prefer one over four.

-Alright.

So let's start with the good news, which is that number two is our co-winner.

This is the Inglehoffer Cream Style.

So it has a good amount of oomph without being crazy hot.

-Right.

-The one that you didn't like here, this was, our tasters said, was for the people who want a lot of horseradish.

It has a lot of personality.

-Yeah.

-I think I called this a train wreck.

-Yes, I said that it had horse in it.

-It actually came in third place... -Huh.

-...for the people who really like a super-potent horseradish.

-Hmm.

-Hmm.

-Number four was just boring, according to the tasting panel.

I'm not sure that was your assessment, but it didn't get many votes of excitement.

And last but not least, we had actually co-winners here.

This is the Wilbur's, so this one, you both liked.

And so I guess you both picked the co-winners as your first and your second choice, and neither one of you cried.

-I'll weep later.

-[ Laughs ] Thanks, Jack.

-Well, looks like I picked a co-winner, and that is the Inglehoffer Cream Style Horseradish.

-And the co-winner, Wilbur's Pure Horseradish, is also delicious.

Fried calamari rose to popularity here in the U.S. back in the '70s and '80s when a few government programs and vocal activists encouraged chefs to put squid on the menu because it's more sustainable.

They also suggested that we use its Italian name, calamari, because it sounded more appetizing and it worked.

Fried calamari is now an iconic appetizer across the country.

But today Keith's gonna show us how to make it at home.

-Yeah, fried calamari is really simple to make.

It's quick cooking.

There's not a lot of ingredients.

But making really good calamari that's tender and crisp, well, that's a little bit more of a challenge, but I do have a couple of tips I'm gonna share with you for the perfect calamari.

We're gonna start with the squid or calamari, whichever you'd like to call it.

Now, buying squid is just like buying any seafood.

You want it to look moist, you want it to look shiny, and it shouldn't have any smell.

-Right.

And it's not sitting in a pool of milky liquid.

-No.

And if it has a smell, then ship it back.

You don't want it.

And we're also gonna use whole calamari and prep it ourselves.

We found that you have better control over the size if you're prepping yourself rather than buying kind of random rings at the store.

So I'm gonna start with the tubes.

These are the tubes here.

-Mm-hmm.

-So what we're looking for is 3/4-inch rings.

What we want is the breading to get golden brown before the calamari has a chance to cook and get really, really tough.

-Makes sense.

-And sometimes calamari has this little wing... -Yeah.

-...on the side.

So I usually cut right through it.

-Mm-hmm.

-It's not a big deal.

If it falls off, you can just put it in there.

It'll fry up really nicely.

Now we can get to the tentacles.

-Mmm.

My favorite part.

-You like the tentacles?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, they have a little bit more chew to them, but what I really like is they get all of that nice coating on it and it gets super, super crispy.

But all we have to do here is that you'll see that there are two long tentacles.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I'm just gonna snip those off to match the other ones.

Just give it a little squid haircut.

-[ Laughs ] -A little bit too long.

It's like eating a piece of tough spaghetti.

That is our calamari.

So I'm just gonna clean this up, wash my hands.

We can get to breading.

So our ideal coating for this calamari was golden brown, crisp, and delicate.

-Mm-hmm.

-There are two components that we're gonna look at.

So let's first look at the liquid glue, and you want something that's thick enough to kind of, you know, stick that flour to the calamari but not too, too thick.

We're gonna actually use 1/2 cup of milk.

It has enough viscosity to coat the calamari nicely and coat the bread nicely.

You don't get too, too much thickness there, but there's also sugars in here and proteins in here that are also gonna aid with browning.

Rather than adding salt to the flour, we're gonna add it to the liquid component because we found we had better distribution of seasoning.

So I have a teaspoon of table salt.

Okay, so that is our first component -- the glue.

Now we can focus on the starch -- 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, and that's where we're gonna get a lot of our color and texture.

And we want it to be a little bit more delicate.

So what I'm gonna add is a tablespoon of baking powder, and that's just gonna kind of puff up that flour a little bit, make it a little bit more delicate.

I also have 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper for some seasoning.

That's it.

Super simple.

There's not a lot of ingredients, which is perfect.

-Yeah.

-So I'm gonna start with putting all of our calamari into the milk.

So I'm just gonna stir this up really well, then I'm gonna take about a half of this calamari.

Let the milk drip back down in here.

It's a little slippery right now.

-[ Laughs ] It really did coat well.

-Yeah.

-You don't think of milk as being really that cohesive, but it is.

-Notice how I'm on a wire rack, and that will allow any excess flour to kind of hit that bottom of that pan and not stay on the calamari itself.

-So you don't get any big clumps of fried coating.

-And we don't want a super, super thick breading here.

You have a really thick breading, You can't taste the calamari.

-Mm-hmm.

-And it's all about that crunch.

-Yeah.

-We want a nice, delicate balance between the calamari and the breading.

Okay, last batch.

Now, before I get rid of this flour, we're gonna make Rhode Island-style calamari.

-Mmm.

I saw these hanging out here.

-Yeah, so I have some sliced banana peppers here.

That's 1 cup of sliced banana peppers, and I don't need that milk.

They already have a little bit of liquid on it.

-Mm-hmm.

-So the flour should stick just perfectly to this.

They are gonna add a nice vinegary tang, a little bit of heat.

It's probably my favorite way to have fried calamari.

-Mine, too.

-Alright.

And I'm just gonna distribute this over the calamari.

Last two bits.

Okay.

We could go right into frying right now, but we're gonna let this sit for 10 minutes.

We found that if we fried the calamari right away, the flour didn't have enough chance to hydrate, and you had kind of a starchy feeling on the back of your tongue.

And that's gonna allow us to heat up 2 quarts of vegetable oil that I have over in this Dutch oven.

-Mm-hmm.

-And that should take about 10 minutes, which is perfect for the calamari.

-I love frying at home, but I always feel bad about having to throw out used frying oil, which usually means pouring it into a plastic container and then throwing that in the trash.

The good news is there are many ways to avoid the waste.

The first is to reuse the oil for more frying.

We found that oil lasted for at least eight rounds when used to fry potato chips.

But when it is time to toss your oil, there's a much better way.

There's a product that works much like gelatin in water, but instead interacts with liquid oil, creating an oleogel.

So what you do is you simply add it to warm oil, mix it in, and then let it cool in the pan until it solidifies into a solid puck of oil that you can then take... and toss it in the trash or compost or you can have some fun with it and make a gorgeous mold to prank your friends with.

Mm.

-Julia, the oil is at 353, precisely.

-Nice.

-And now it's time to fry.

So again, this is all about frying quickly.

So I'm gonna fry this for exactly three minutes, and that's gonna be perfect.

It's gonna -- Flour is gonna turn golden brown.

It's gonna ensure that the calamari doesn't overcook.

We want to blast that heat right now because you want to keep as much heat in this pot as we possibly can.

We have a high volume of oil to calamari.

This is all about quick cooking.

So when we put the calamari in, we won't lose all of that heat.

Take a spider skimmer.

You want to stir it just enough to kind of keep the pieces from sticking, but you don't want to be too aggressive to knock that coating off.

-Right.

So you're cooking this in two batches.

-Two batches.

[ Timer beeping ] Oh, three minutes exactly.

Quick, quick.

[ Both laughing ] Ah, yeah, that's great.

So I'm just gonna transfer this over to a paper-towel-lined tray.

What that's gonna do is that paper towel will kind of wick away any excess fat that we have on the outside of this calamari.

Now, I'm not gonna season these.

We've already seasoned that milk earlier.

-Mm-hmm.

-So there was no reason to season it again.

Okay.

What I want to do is get this oil back up to 350 degrees.

And while we're waiting for that to come up, I'm just gonna transfer this calamari on the tray to a 200-degree oven to keep nice and warm.

[ Timer beeping ] Okay.

-Oop.

Timer.

-Three minutes.

We got to go.

This is our second batch, and it's just been three minutes.

So I brought our first batch out of the oven where it was keeping nice and warm.

So I'm just gonna transfer these over to a nice platter.

Have this nice, golden-brown color.

-Mm-hmm!

-I have another 1/2 cup of sliced banana peppers that we're gonna add.

The rest on top here.

-My mouth is watering.

-Now, I'm gonna give you a lemon wedge.

-Oh, thank you.

I love lemon.

Just a little lemon.

I'm gonna try the bodies because those are the hard parts to cook.

Hmm.

Crunchy.

And you can taste the squid.

The squid's super tender.

-Yeah, no toughness here.

It's super, super tender.

-Alright.

Tentacle time.

Mmm.

-They're tender as well, right?

-Mm-hmm.

-I mean, they have a little bit more texture than the bodies do, but they're still super tender.

-Keith, this is delicious.

Thank you so much.

-I'm glad you liked it.

-So if you want to make wonderful, homemade calamari, slice the squid into 3/4-inch-thick rings, coat it with milk, then dredge in all-purpose flour and fry for exactly 3 minutes in 350-degree oil.

From "America's Test Kitchen," a simple recipe for Rhode Island-style fried calamari.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes and product reviews from this season, along with select episodes, at our website, americastestkitchen.com/tv.

Oh, my daughter's gonna go nuts when I make this for her at home.