The peppers and chorizo complement the cod wonderfully, adding just the right amount of spice and smokiness to our take on this northern Spanish dish. A perennial favourite at Scott's, this has become a signature dish.  Serves 4cod fillets (180g each) 4chorizo 80g, dicedpadrón peppers 50garrocina beans (white haricot beans) 100g, soaked overnight (– borlotti, coco and broad beans work well too)parsley ½ a small bunch, choppedshallots 2, dicedgarlic 1 clove, crushedunsalted butter 20glemon ½mild red chilli 1 medium size, finely choppedchicken stock (a good stock cube will do) 500mlwhite wine 25mlextra virgin olive oil 25mlsalt and freshly ground black pepper  Heat some olive oil in a pan and add the shallots and chilli and cook, being careful not to burn the mixture. Drain the arrocina beans and add to the pan and sweat down for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the white wine and reduce by half, then add the chicken stock and cook slowly for 45 minutes or until the beans are cooked. (You may need to add extra chicken stock.) Leave and keep in a warm place.  Heat a non-stick frying pan and add olive oil. Season the cod with salt and pepper and place skin side down in the pan. Cook until the skin is nice and crisp for approximately 5 minutes; turn over and cook for another 3 minutes. (If the fillets are thin, reduce the cooking time.) When you've just turned the cod over, heat another non-stick frying pan with olive oil until smoking. Add the padrón peppers and cook until they start to wilt. Then, add the chorizo with the chopped parsley, butter, garlic and a couple of squeezes of lemon juice and cook for a further minute.  When ready to serve, spoon the cooked beans onto the middle of each warm plate. Sit the cod on top of the beans and pour over the padrón peppers and chorizo.Tim Hughes is chef director at Caprice Holdings  Sometimes the simple classics are the best. Take your time to get this right and you will have a world-class dish! Halibut is ideal, but any good quality white flat fish will be fine. You need the best quality brand of frozen petis pois for this recipe. Anything else will give a grainy texture – so don't skimp on your peas! At my pub we always serve our fish and chips with round chips simply because they look more interesting.  Serves 4halibut fillets 4, about 180g eachsea salt flakes to tastetable salt to tastelemon wedges to serve  For the chipspotatoes 4 large, for chipping, such as Maris pipervegetable oil for deep-frying  For the tartare sauceegg yolks 3Dijon mustard 1 tbspwhite wine vinegar 4 tspvegetable oil 500mlhard-boiled eggs 2, shelled and gratedshallot 1 finely choppedgherkins 2 tbsp, finely choppedcapers in brine 2 tbsp, drained and finely choppedparsley leaves 2 tbsp, finely chopped  For the beer batteregg whites 2beer or sparkling water 240mlself-raising white flour 350gbicarbonate of soda large pinch  For the pea puréebutter 25gshallot 1, finely choppedsea salt flakes ½ tspchicken stock 100mlmint leaves 1 tbsp, finely choppedfrozen peas 350g, defrostedcaster sugar 4 tsp  To make thick chips, top and tail each potato, then use an apple corer to cut out the centres. Remember, we are making round chips here. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil over a high heat.  Add the potatoes, return the water to the boil and boil for about 5 minutes until tender, but still holding their shape. Use a slotted spoon to remove them from the water and leave them to drain. Dry well on a wire rack.  When the potatoes are completely dry, heat enough oil for deep-frying in a deep-fat fryer or heavy-based saucepan until it reaches 140C. Add the potatoes and fry for 8–10 minutes until the oil stops bubbling, which means all the moisture has been removed.  Use a slotted spoon to remove the potatoes from the oil, return them to the wire rack and leave to cool.  Meanwhile, make the tartare sauce. Place the egg yolks, Dijon mustard and white wine vinegar in a food processor and blend until smooth. With the motor still running, slowly add the oil until the mixture emulsifies and thickens. Stir in the remaining ingredients and season. Cover and keep in the fridge until needed.  To make the pea purée, melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Add the shallot and sea salt and fry, stirring occasionally, for at least 5 minutes until softened, but not coloured. Add the chicken stock and mint and bring to the boil. Add the peas and sugar, return the stock to the boil and boil for 5–6 minutes until the peas are tender.  Strain the peas and shallots over a bowl to catch the liquid, then transfer them to a blender. Add 2 tablespoons of the cooking liquid and blend until smooth, but not too thin. Adjust the seasoning with table salt, if necessary, then set aside and keep hot.  To make the batter, mix the egg whites and beer together until fluffy. Mix the flour and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl and add the egg-white mix.  Just before you are ready to fry the fish, fry the potatoes for a second time at 180C for 2–3 minutes until crispy and golden brown. Drain well on kitchen paper, sprinkle with salt and keep hot in a low oven.  Reheat the oil to 180C, if necessary. Dip the fish into the batter, letting any excess drip back into the bowl, then add to the oil and fry for 3–5 minutes until crispy and golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper.  Keep the fried fillets warm in the low oven until they are all fried, but do not cover them with kitchen paper. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes and serve immediately with the chips, pea purée and tartare sauce and lemon wedges.From Proper Pub Food by Tom Kerridge (Absolute Press, RRP £20)Buy it here from Guardian Bookshop  This is a good simple starter that can be made the same day, or a few days before. At J Sheekey, we use Morecambe Bay shrimps, but any peeled brown shrimps work well. Order peeled shrimps from your fishmonger in advance, as it will take you the best part of a day to peel enough for four.  Serves 4unsalted butter 100g, softenedlemon 1ground mace a pinchCayenne pepper to tasteanchovy essence 40mlbrown shrimps 200g, peeled and cookedsalt and freshly ground black pepper  Place the butter in a saucepan with the juice of half the lemon, ground mace, Cayenne and anchovy essence. Simmer on a low heat for 2 to 3 minutes for the spices to infuse the butter. Remove and allow the mixture to cool until just warm.  Add the shrimps to the butter mixture. Stir well and check seasoning. Pack the shrimps into ramekins or small kilner jars and put in the fridge to set. Remove from the fridge at least an hour before required and serve with toast and lemon wedges.From J Sheekey Fish by Tim Hughes (Preface, RRP £25)Buy it here from Guardian Bookshop  We only eat mackerel when they come into Ballycotton Bay from early summer. There have been concerns over the sustainability of mackerel, but it is worth checking in your area as the stocks vary from place to place. This is a master recipe for pan-grilling fish. The simplest and possibly most delicious way to cook really fresh mackerel.  Serves 1–2fillets of very fresh mackerel 2-4 (allow 175g per person as a main, or 75g as a starter)seasoned flourbutter small knob, softened  For the saucefresh green gooseberries 275gstock syrup approx. 175ml, to coverbutter knob (optional)  For the stock syrup (makes 825ml)granulated sugar 450gwater 600ml  For the stock syrup, dissolve the sugar in water over a low heat. Bring to the boil and boil hard for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool. Any leftover syrup can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for about a month.  Top and tail the gooseberries, put them into a stainless-steel saucepan and barely cover with the stock syrup. Bring to the boil and simmer until the fruit bursts. Taste. Stir in a small knob of butter if you like.  Preheat a griddle pan. Dip each fish fillet into seasoned flour and shake off any excess. Spread a little softened butter over the flesh side of each fillet, as though you were buttering a slice of bread rather meanly. When the griddle is quite hot, but not smoking, put the fillets, butter-side down, in the pan; they should sizzle as soon as they touch it. Reduce the heat slightly. Cook the fillets for 4–5 minutes on the first side, then turn over and cook on the skin side until crisp and golden. Serve on a hot plate, accompanied by the warm gooseberry sauce and lemon wedges.From 30 Years at Ballymaloe by Darina Allen (Kyle Books, RRP £30)Buy it here from Guardian Bookshop  This marvellous dish is a favourite from my time in Chengdu. There, they make it with carp, but it works equally well with rainbow trout or sea bass, and probably with many other varieties of fish. The recipe uses one of the most distinctive Sichuanese cooking methods, dry-braising, in which the main ingredient is simmered in a liquid that gradually reduces to a sticky sauce thick with delicious seasonings. The traditional recipe uses a small amount of minced pork to enhance the umami deliciousness of the fish, but it can be omitted. My thanks to Zhang Xiaozhong for giving me a new take on this classic.  In Sichuan they serve the fish whole, but you can cut off the head and tail if you wish. If the fish is already cooked before the liquid in the sauce has evaporated, you can ease it onto a serving dish, turn up the heat to reduce the sauce before pouring it over.  serves 2 as a main with rice and vegsea bass 1 (about 500g)For the marinadesalt ¼ tspShaoxing wine ½ tbspginger 20g, slicedpotato starch 1 tspSichuan chilli bean paste 1 ½ tbspfinely chopped ginger 1 tbspgarlic 1 tbsp, finely chopped Sichuanese ya cai or Sichuan preserved vegetable (zha cai, available from Chinese supermarkets) 2 tbsp, finely choppedminced pork 75g (optional)spring onions 4, white parts only  red pepper ½stock 250mlsugar 1 tspShaoxing wine 1 tbspsesame oil 1 tspsaltcooking oil 6-7 tbspMake four or five diagonal cuts into the thickest part of the fish, and then four or five diagonal cuts in the opposite direction, so you end up with a criss-cross pattern. Repeat on the other side of the fish. Rub both sides of the fish with the salt and wine for the marinade, and put the ginger into its belly.  Cut four 5-6cm lengths of spring onion, and then cut three strips of red pepper of a similar size.  If using the minced pork, stir fry it over a high flame in a seasoned wok with 1 tbsp oil, until pale-coloured and cooked through. Set aside.  Discard the ginger from the marinade and pat the fish dry. Rub the potato starch into the cuts on both of its sides. Heat the wok over a high flame and then add 2 tbsp oil. Sprinkle the base of the wok with a little salt to prevent sticking, and then slide in the fish. Fry the fish until golden on both sides, tilting the wok so you brown the base of the tail too. Slide the fish onto a plate and set aside.  Wipe the wok clean if necessary, reheat over a high flame, and then add 4 tbsp oil and reduce the heat to medium. Add the chilli bean paste and stir-fry until the oil is red and fragrant. Add the ginger, garlic, ya cai or preserved vegetable, spring onion whites and red pepper, and cooked pork (if using) and stir fry until they all smell delicious. Then pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Add the sugar and Shaoxing wine, and then slide the fish back into the wok. Simmer over a gentle flame for 8-10 minutes, basting the fish in the sauce, and shaking the wok gently from time to time to prevent sticking. Tilt the wok to make sure the head and tail also absorb the flavours of the sauce, and flip the fish over halfway through cooking. By the end, the fish should be cooked through, and the sauce reduced to a wonderful sticky glaze.  Finally, sprinkle in the sesame oil, and then ease the fish onto a serving dish, and cover with the remnants of the sauce. Arrange the spring onion whites alternately with the strips of red pepper along the side of the fish.  Fuchsia Dunlop's most recent book is Every Grain of Rice (Bloomsbury, RRP £25)Buy it here from Guardian Bookshop  Where possible, please ensure your fish is sustainably sourced. For more information, visit fishonline.org  Click here to read part 2 of our 20 best summer fish recipes
Five delicious dishes chosen by Observer Food Monthly including Sichuanese sea bass, pan-grilled mackerel – and proper fish and chips