Spring is in the air and soon more and more of us will be making trips to the seaside. While I don’t do deck chairs or donkeys anymore, I am still partial to fish and chips wrapped up in newspaper, eaten with my legs swinging over the sea wall.

Another seaside classic is scampi. Scampi is very similar to a prawn or langoustine and is normally breaded and deep-fried. Many restaurants used to substitute monkfish instead of scampi tails because it used to be much cheaper and unloved. It’s hard to believe now with monkfish being such a popular and expensive fish.

As a homage to both these dishes, this recipe is for bite-sized, beer-battered monkfish. This is easier to cook than a full fillet of cod or haddock and is a great snack. You can use the batter if you want to use cod or even with meat such as sweet and sour chicken balls as it’s so versatile. Many fish and chip shops traditionally use a simple water and flour batter, adding a little sodium bicarbonate or baking soda and a little vinegar to provide lightness, as they create bubbles of carbon dioxide in the batter.

My recipe is just as simple replacing the water with beer as the naturally present carbon dioxide lends a lighter texture to the batter. The sugars in the beer also help produce a wonderful golden-brown colour when fried. Depending on your choice of beer you can add a nutty or biscuity flavour to your batter. It's important to use a cask or bottle-conditioned beer to really get the full flavour. I’m using one of my local brews, Liberation Ale, but part of the fun of this recipe is trying as many beers as possible. Wheat beers for Asian-style dishes and even porters for deep-fried battered bananas with ice cream and toffee sauce will work.

Monkfish bites

1kg monkfish fillet cut into 2cm squares

200g self-raising flour

10g curry powder

Bottle of beer 

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1.5l vegetable oil (for frying)

Sieve two thirds of the flour into a large bowl and add a generous amount of salt and pepper. With a whisk, mixing continuously, add the beer to the flour until you have a smooth batter about the consistency of thick cream. I’ve allowed extra in the recipe as not all beer bottles are the same size. Use the remaining flour to dredge the fish.

Place the batter in the fridge to rest for around 30 minutes. In a large heavy-bottomed pan heat the oil to 160˚C/320˚F. You can check this by placing a stale bread cube in the oil. If it rises to the surface and cooks to a golden brown in a couple of minutes the oil is hot enough.

Take two tablespoons of flour and the curry powder and place in a shallow tray, season well and mix thoroughly. Dredge each piece of fish fillet in the seasoned flour until covered. Shake off excess flour and dip into the batter mix before carefully lowering into the hot oil. Fry the bites for around eight minutes or until the batter is crisp and golden, turning from time to time with a large, slotted spoon.

When the fish is cooked, use the slotted spoon to remove it from the hot oil, drain on kitchen paper, and serve with lemon or lime wedges and the chutney.

Coriander chutney

Slice white bread, crust removed

Large handful of fresh Coriander

3 green chillies

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1tsp ground cumin

Half tsp salt

Juice of medium lemon

Mix all of the ingredients together in a food processor to form a smooth paste.