Batter II (Cup bread flour tablespoon)

A thin egg-white batter of the kind used for coating vegetables, fruit or fish before deep frying. The ingredient list and the method have run together in this printing, so read it as: dry ingredients mixed, water added gradually, then oil, then stiffly beaten egg white folded in last.

• Quantities as printedThe printed page was checked: the salt is a quarter teaspoon, which suits one cup of flour. The trailing "1 1/3 cups flour" belongs to neighboring matter on the page rather than to this batter, and can be ignored when mixing.
• Bread flour matters hereThe recipe calls for bread flour, whose extra strength helps a coating cling and crisp. All-purpose flour will serve, though the crust tends to be softer; cake flour is too weak.
• Fold, do not stirThe beaten white is the only leavening in the batter. Fold it in with a few strokes just before frying and use the batter at once, as it loses its lift on standing.
• ConsistencyOne cup of flour to half a cup of water gives a thick batter before the oil and egg white go in. It should finally coat the back of a spoon in an even, opaque layer; thin with a teaspoon of water at a time if it is too heavy.
• Frying temperatureThe original assumes deep fat judged by eye. Use 365 to 375F. Below that the batter absorbs oil; above it, the outside colours before the interior sets.
• YieldEnough to coat roughly a pound of prepared vegetables, apple rings or small fish fillets.
• Olive oil in the batterThe small quantity of oil mainly tenderises the coating. A mild olive oil, or a neutral vegetable oil, suits the batter better than a pungent modern extra-virgin.