Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 eggs, separated
- 12 ounces amber beer
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1/3 teaspoon paprika
- 4 garlic cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Pinch black pepper
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
- Vegetable Oil, for deep frying
- 3 large yellow onions, cut into ¼” rings
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, for dredging
Directions
- In a large bowl, mix together 1 ½ cups flour, 1 teaspoon paprika, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and ¾ teaspoon pepper.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 2 egg yolks and beer.
- Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the beer mixture until they are fully incorporated with no lumps. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
- In a food processor, combine 2 egg yolks, Dijon mustard, 1/3 teaspoon paprika, garlic cloves, ¼ teaspoon salt, and pinch black pepper. Pulse until garlic is finely chopped.
- With the processor running, slowly add the oil until the sauce is emulsified.
- Add the orange juice, zest, and cilantro and pulse until cilantro is chopped and mixture is smooth. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- In a deep fryer or heavy saucepot, heat oil to 360°F.
- With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites to soft peaks.
- With a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the beer batter.
- Dredge the onion rings first into the all-purpose flour, and then into the batter. When they are coated, gently drop them into the hot oil.
- Fry for about 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.
- Season with additional salt, if desired, and serve with spicy aioli and Amber Beer.
Secrets:
- If your batter has lumps that you can’t eliminate with a whisk, pass it through a fine mesh strainer to eliminate them. Lumps will ruin a great beer batter.
- You can make the batter ahead of time and refrigerate, but once you fold in the egg whites, the batter will only be good for about 30 minutes.
- If you don’t have a food processor to make the aioli, you can do it by hand with a whisk, just make sure that you whisk constantly while adding the oil so that the aioli will emulsify.