Smelt is a small but very tasty fish. It is the main commercial fish of the Neva River, so there is even an annual Smelt Festival in St. Petersburg. Fresh smelt smells like fresh cucumbers. But the simplest and most common way to process it is frying.
It is necessary
-
- smelt;
- egg;
- flour or bread crumbs;
- vegetable oil;
- salt.
Instructions
Step 1
Rinse the smelt and remove the scales. Despite the fact that the scales are quite large, the fish is easy to clean. If the smelt is small, then you do not need to gut it. If you are lucky enough to get a large fish, then you need to gut it. The easiest way is to gut with two incisions. Make one cut near the head of the fish, with the second cut open the belly and remove all the insides. Just be careful not to damage the gallbladder when eviscerating, otherwise the place where the bile got into will be bitter.
Step 2
Then rinse the fish again and dry well. Sprinkle the smelt with salt and leave for half an hour to salt the fish.
Step 3
After that, the smelt needs to be breaded well. To do this, beat the egg with water and sprinkle the breading on a plate. Breadcrumbs are best for quality breading, but if not available, use regular flour.
At the same time, you can warm up the sunflower oil for frying the smelt. It is best if there is enough oil to cover the whole fish, so it will be deep-fried.
Step 4
Start frying. The oil should be very hot, be careful when placing the smelt in the skillet.
Dip the fish first in the egg mixture, then in the breading and place the smelt in the skillet. Try to lay out the fish in a head-to-tail fashion, then you can flip the entire row of fish at once. Fry the smelt on one side, then turn it over to the other side and bring the fish until golden brown.
Step 5
You can serve fried smelt with boiled potatoes with herbs. Fresh vegetable salads also go well with fish. If you did not plan a side dish for the fish, then it is quite possible to get by with sour cream sauce.
