Fried Whitebait Recipes

Steps:

• Heat the oil for frying in a deep-fat fryer to about 375 degrees F.
• Put the whitebait and the seasoned flour into a plastic bag, and toss everything around to coat the fish.
• Shake the excess flour by turning out the whole bag into a metal sieve, and then plunge the little fishes into the oil. Cook for about 3 minutes or until they look crispy and tempting - though I can see that for a squeamish generation, the idea of eating baby fish, whole, might not tempt. How wrong they are, if that's the case.
• Turn them out onto paper towels, and while the fish are losing any excess oil (we want desirable crunch) throw in a small handful of parsley leaves to deep-fry; watch out, it will spit. (A splatter guard is useful. Not charming, but useful.) When they have turned a very dark green, drain and serve with the whitebait, well sprinkled with sea salt and surrounded with lemon wedges.

Steps:

• Heat oil to 180 degrees C or 375 degrees F.
• Remove any broken or bruised whitebait. Carefully wash and dry the remaining fish.
• Coat fish in milk and then put fish into a bag with the seasoned flour. Shake to coat. This can be done in batches; while some fish is cooking, the next batch is prepared.
• Cook fish for 1 minute before removing from the oil with a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with a small amount of salt before serving.