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To Duebs Whitebait

Whitebait fish are dried, floured, fried in hot lard until brown, then served salted on a napkin.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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To Duebs Whitebait

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Place whitebait in iced water immediately after buying, unless cooking right away.

  2. Drain the fish in a colander. Dry the fish with a clean cloth.

  3. Toss the whitebait in flour.

  4. Shake off excess flour in a wicker sieve.

Fry and serve

  1. Fry the whitebait in boiling lard, a few at a time, until they turn whitey-brown.

  2. Remove the fish and place them on a reversed sieve covered with blotting paper to absorb excess fat.

  3. Serve on a hot napkin, arranging the fish high in the center. Sprinkle with salt.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms a thin dry coating that crisps in the hot fat and helps the fish brown.
Lard
Hot fat that cooks the fish quickly, crisping the coating and giving it a golden color.

The step that matters

Frying in boiling lard, a few at a time. Adding too much fish at once drops the fat temperature, so the coating absorbs grease and turns soggy instead of crisp. Keeping the lard hot and frying in small batches keeps the fish crisp and dry.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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