Spanish Fried Anchovies
Boquerones Fritos
Serves 6
The combination of omega 3 oil from the anchovies and omega 9 oil from the olive oil make this the most heart healthy of recipes. Even though fresh anchovies are not easy to find, we include the recipe here because, in addition to being incredibly good for you, these anchovies are absolutely delicious. Such is the status of anchovies in Spain that the freshest anchovies are graded “Bocherones de Cine” – which makes them no less than Hollywood movie stars. I find myself imagining the fish wearing dark sun glasses in the fridge when we bring them home from the store!
I have included this fish fry recipe in this section even though in North America we are sometimes reluctant to handle fresh fish. However, when you get comfortable with the basic Spanish fish frying principles, you may decide to make Friday night yourFish Fry night as it is in our house. Occasionally our fishmonger in North America will get a crate of anchovies on a Friday morning and they will be sold out before mid-afternoon.
The only difficulty with making this dish is gaining the confidence to gut them yourself. Bocherones do not need to be scaled. Like most small fish, they are sold “as is” by fish-mongers but they are very much worth the effort. Look for anchovies that have bright eyes and whose flesh is firm and intact.
Bocherones hold mythic status in our household. They are what children long for when summer holidays are a long time away and they can never be served often enough when the summertime has arrived. There is nothing quite as good as the feeling you get from a meal of fried anchovies with a glass of cold Spanish Manzanilla, a slightly salty dry sherry, or a small cold glass of lager.
3 lbs / 1.5 kg anchovies
Flour for dredging
11/2 cup / 350 ml olive oil
When you bring the anchovies home, wash them right away. Place a small saucer in a non-reactive bowl, and place the washed anchovies in the bowl on the saucer.
When you are ready to gut the anchovies, place the anchovies in the sink with the water running and the drain saver in place.
To gut an anchovy, grasp it with your left hand (if you are right handed) with the head near your thumb. With your right hand, push your thumb into the belly of the anchovy pushing up toward the head as you do so. The skin under the belly will yield to your thumb and you will be able to push the gut up and out with your thumb. When your thumb gets to the head, grasp the head between your thumb and forefinger and break off the head.
Rinse the gut well. Replace the anchovies in a clean bowl on the same saucer and sprinkle with a little salt. Repeat until all the anchovies are gutted and cleaned. When you get the hang of it, you will be able to prepare 3 lbs of medium-sized anchovies in 20 minutes – about the time it takes to get back and forth from the video rental store.
When the fish is ready to cook, heat the olive oil in a small or medium sized frying pan. Don’t use too large a frying pan because a smaller quantity of olive oil is best. When too large a pan is used, it is tempting to fry too many fish at once, which causes the oil to cool and the fish to get soggy.
The oil is ready when a piece of day old baguette placed in the oil turns golden brown. Grasp the tails of three anchovies at a time and dredge them in the flour. Lower them into the hot oil like a fan. Depending on the size of your pan you will be able to cook 2 or 3 fans at the same time. Fry the anchovies about 3 minutes on each side.