Anchovies Fried in Batter
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clean the anchovies thoroughly and soak them in spring water for 2 to 6 hours.
Dry the anchovies, open them, and remove the backbones without dividing the fish.
Season the insides with cayenne pepper and close the anchovies.
Fry
Dip the anchovies into the batter and fry until pale amber, about 4 to 5 minutes.
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
- Anchovies
- Provide the main fish flavour and the body of the dish once fried.
- French batter or light english batter
- Forms a crisp coating that fries to a pale golden colour and seals in moisture.
The step that matters
Frying the batter-coated anchovies. Oil that is too cool lets the batter soak up fat and turn greasy, while oil that is too hot browns the coating before the fish cooks through. Frying to a pale amber, as the record directs, keeps the coating crisp and the fish tender.
“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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