Deep-fried whitebait with lemon and persillade

This is a very traditional way of cooking whitebait but with the interesting addition of the persillade – a mixture of parsley and garlic.  The key to success is to cooking the whitebait in small batches so they are crisp.

It is a lovely starter or supper dish.

Preparation Time: 10 Mins

Cooking Time: 10 Mins

Total Time: 20 Mins

Ingredients

For 4 servings…

80 gms            Flour        

½ tsp              Cayenne    

1 tsp               Salt          

570 gms           Whitebait   

For the persillade

2 cloves           Garlic  - chopped      

For deep frying

                     Oil           

To serve

1                    Lemon  - cut into wedges        

Method

For the persillade…

Finely chop the garlic.  Then add the parsley and continue to chop them together until a very fine mixture is produced.

To prepare and cook the whitebait…

Put the flour, cayenne pepper and salt into a large bowl and mix together.  Add the whitebait, toss together until they are all well coated and then lift them out and shake off the excess flour.

Heat the oil to 190°C.

Deep-fry the fish in batches for 3 minutes, until crisp.  Drain briefly on kitchen towel and then tip them into a serving bowl and sprinkle with the persillade.

Serve with the lemon wedges.

Wine recommendations

A white wine.

Conventional

     Picpoul de Pinet

Interesting

     Entre-deux-Mers

     Mâcon

     Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur lie

     Pinot Gris