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Fried Smelts

Fried smelts are smelt fish coated in eggs and cracker crumbs, then fried in lard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Fried Smelts

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Clean the smelts by splitting them just enough to remove the insides.

  2. Soak the smelts in a mixture of salt and water for 1 hour.

  3. Wash and dry the smelts.

  4. Beat the eggs in a plate and place cracker crumbs in another plate.

Fry and serve

  1. Heat the lard in a frying pan until very hot.

  2. Dip the smelts in the eggs, then roll them in the cracker crumbs.

  3. Fry the smelts in the hot lard until they are light brown.

  4. Serve hot with drawn butter.

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

Eggs
Bind the cracker crumbs to the smelts so the coating adheres during frying.
Cracker crumbs
Form a crisp, golden coating that protects the fish and browns in the hot fat.
Lard
Conducts heat for frying, crisping the coating and adding rich flavor.

The step that matters

Frying in very hot lard. If the lard is not very hot, the coating absorbs fat instead of crisping quickly, leaving the smelts greasy and soggy. Hot fat sets the coating quickly and seals the surface, so the fish cooks through while the crumbs brown.

“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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