Thursday, September 24, 2009

Fish fry. Sort of.


You might not think about this. Imagine if you will, that you're at your favorite bait store. C'mon, you've got one. Would you think of taking the minnows home and cooking them? Probably not, but I've got to tell you, find the right kind and you might be in for a pleasant surprise.

When there was no sand, we at the smelt.

At the local chain grocery store a few weeks ago, they had fresh smelt that had been gutted and beheaded. Perfect! Set up for deep fry (sauce pan with canola, peanut, or vegetable oil at around 350-375), lightly flour the smelt, and let 'em rip. The result? Miniature fried fishy goodness! Fresh crispy minnows, anyone? Serve with a hot sauce aioli, spicy mustard sauce, horseradish sauce, etc.



If you can find these suckers, you won't believe how good they are.

2 comments:

JW said...

These have always scared me a bit. I don't think the ones we get here are cleaned. Bourdain says just squeeze until the guts shoot out, then dredge and deep-fry. I'm also concerned about the heads and am oftentimes put off by the small skeletons of such critters. What are your thoughts?

OG said...

The ones I got were beheaded and gutted. I don't think it's a big deal if you have to clean them, just make sure you wash them thoroughly, and you shouldn't have any problem.