The battered sausage is one of the most British foods around. We now deep fry and batter of a whole heap of other stuff, from saveloys to Mrs-Bars, but it is the battered sausage that remains the most iconic.
What is a battered sausage?
I’m not assuming you’re stupid, but if you are not a Brit (Aussie) it might be a bit of a weird, or foreign concept to you. So what is a battered sausage? Well it is a sausage (duh) dipped in batter. Usually the same batter that they use to batter the fish, for fish and chips, which you can learn how to eat correctly here.
Battered things, and batter itself could, and should get their own entry (a job for later), but for now i’ll give a very brief explanation. Its basically a mix of flour, water and salt, that when deep-fried coats things in batter. Of course water can be substituted for beer! Nothing quite beats beer battered fish and chips mate let me tell you!
The battered sausage is considered a staple of fish and chip shops across the United Kingdom, as well as Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. A vestige of the good old British Empire!
Battering UK Style
Battering things (literally everything) is a huge deal in Scotland where a craze that started with a battered Mars Bar (a UK chocolate), and then seemingly moving on them battering everything. My particular favorite during this period was a deep fried mush pea fritter, again very English, and something I might write about if I can muster up 300 words on the topic!
Outside of the UK
Outside of the UK and won under they do things a bit differently, Australians tend to batter saveloys, and refer to it as a battered sav, whilst in New Zealand they put a stick in it and lather it with lots of tomato ketchup, from where it is eaten right away.
So, is a battered sausage good for you? Hell no, nothing this amazing could ever be good for you, and this is literally a greasy sausage covered in batter. A battered sausage is far fro kept friendly….
On average a battered sausage can contain up to 750 calories. Keep in mind that that the average male should consume 2-3000 calories per day, so one of these bad bays makes over a third of that.
Not to be confused with a sausage roll
A sausage roll comes from the same family group as the battered sausage, but is wrapped in pastry instead of deep-fried. Of course it is equally as unhealthy. During my exile in Cambodia I was to not discover any battered sausage, but I did find a place that did sausage rolls. They also did Cornish Pasties, but this going down a whole other tangent.
Can you get a battered sausage in Phnom Penh?
I realize again I am going very much off-topic, but seeing as I live here now. I have not been able to find battered sausage (yet). Although battered fish is relatively common. I did though amazingly find a deep fried frog. Definitely not what I was expecting. Frog tastes like Chicken, so it was like a VERY bony deep fried chicken. Well kinda anyway.
You can though get pretty good pies and a sausage roll in Siem Reap, although that is a different story.
Best way to eat this sausage sensation?
Battered sausages as you can see are quite the versatile snack, and can be had with numerous foods, or sauces, but the quintessential way to eat it is battered sausage with chips. Battered sausage, chips, lots of ketchup and of course malt vinegar!
And that is the street food guys guide to everything there is to know about battering up and eating a sausage!
