Whitebait Food

CLASSIC FRIED WHITEBAIT (FRIED TINY FISH)

Steps:

• Serve hot with lemon wedges and enjoy.

WHITEBAIT

Steps:

• Heat the oil for frying in a deep-fat fryer to about 375 degrees F.
• Put the whitebait and the seasoned flour into a plastic bag, and toss everything around to coat the fish.
• Shake the excess flour by turning out the whole bag into a metal sieve, and then plunge the little fishes into the oil. Cook for about 3 minutes or until they look crispy and tempting - though I can see that for a squeamish generation, the idea of eating baby fish, whole, might not tempt. How wrong they are, if that's the case.
• Turn them out onto paper towels, and while the fish are losing any excess oil (we want desirable crunch) throw in a small handful of parsley leaves to deep-fry; watch out, it will spit. (A splatter guard is useful. Not charming, but useful.) When they have turned a very dark green, drain and serve with the whitebait, well sprinkled with sea salt and surrounded with lemon wedges.

WHITEBAIT PATTIES

Steps:

• Beat together all ingredients except for the whitebait.
• Add the whitebait.
• Drop tablespoons of the mixture into a frypan at a medium heat, adding more oil as needed.

WEST COAST WHITEBAIT PATTIES

Steps:

• Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then mix in the milk.
• Season with salt & pepper to taste.
• Lightly beat through the flour & baking powder to ensure there are no lumps. Add the flour slowly - the mixture should be thick & runny but not too gloopy.
• In a colander, rinse the whitebait and pick out any river stones or other debris.
• Drain, and mix into the egg mixture until well combined.
• Heat a frying pan on medium-high heat, and once heated, add the butter/olive oil.
• Drop in dessert-spoonfuls of the whitebait mixture, and cook until the pattie is set (& starts to go golden on the underside). The whitebait will normally have gone white at this stage.
• Turn, and cook on the other side until golden.
• Keep warm in the oven until ready to serve, in my house they get eaten as fast as they are cooked!

FRIED WHITEBAIT

Steps:

• Heat oil to 180 degrees C or 375 degrees F.
• Remove any broken or bruised whitebait. Carefully wash and dry the remaining fish.
• Coat fish in milk and then put fish into a bag with the seasoned flour. Shake to coat. This can be done in batches; while some fish is cooking, the next batch is prepared.
• Cook fish for 1 minute before removing from the oil with a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with a small amount of salt before serving.