Whitebait
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the whitebait
Carefully inspect the whitebait to ensure it is free from debris, handling it as little as possible.
Keep the whitebait in very cold water with a lump of ice until ready to use.
Flour and fry
Heat oil or fat in a stewpan until hot.
Lay a cloth open on a tray and place a heap of flour in the center.
When the fat is hot, add a small handful of whitebait to the flour.
Hold the cloth at each end and shake it rapidly until the bait is well floured.
Quickly transfer the floured bait to a frying basket and shake to remove excess flour.
Plunge the basket into the hot fat and fry until crisp.
Serve
Drain and serve immediately with thin brown bread and butter, and lemons cut into quarters.
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
- Whitebait
- Small whole fish that become crisp and tender when fried quickly in hot fat.
- Flour
- Forms a dry coating that browns and crisps in the hot fat.
- Oil or other fat
- Conducts heat to cook the coating quickly, creating a crisp exterior.
The step that matters
Plunge the basket into the hot fat and fry until crisp. Fat must be hot before the floured fish goes in. If it is too cool, the coating absorbs fat and turns greasy instead of crisp. Excess flour should be shaken off first so it does not clump and burn in the fat.
“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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