AI-generated image
Bizri
Fried whitebait
Bizri: Lebanese seaside plate of tiny fried whitebait with lemon and crisp pitta
Fish restaurants on the harbours of Byblos, Batroun and Tyre bring bizri to the table within minutes of ordering: a heap of tiny whitebait, dusted in seasoned flour and fried so crisp you eat them whole, heads and all, with a squeeze of lemon. It is a mezze for sharing with fattoush, tahini sauce and fried pitta, usually while waiting for the bigger grilled fish. Buy the fish very fresh and keep it on ice until it goes into the pan. The common mistake is crowding the pan, which drops the oil temperature and leaves the fish greasy and soft. Chef's tip: toss the damp fish in flour in a sieve and shake off every bit of excess; a thin coating fries glassy-crisp.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ lb whitebaitvery fresh or thawed, rinsed and patted damp-dry
- 3 ½ oz plain flour
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 4 ¼ cups sunflower oilfor deep-frying
To serve
- 2 lemon wedgescut from 2 lemons
- 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley (optional)chopped
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (2)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Heat 4 ¼ cups sunflower oil in a deep, heavy pan to 375°F, or until a cube of bread browns in 30 seconds. Never leave hot oil unattended.
8 minStep 2: Mix 3 ½ oz plain flour, 1 ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp ground cumin and 1 tsp paprika. Toss a third of 1 ⅓ lb whitebait in it, then shake the fish in a sieve over the bowl to knock off the excess flour.
Step 3: Fry in small batches for 2–3 minutes, stirring once, until golden and crisp and the flesh is opaque right through. Lift out onto kitchen paper.
3 minStep 4: Let the oil come back to temperature between batches and repeat with the rest of the fish. Discard any fish that smells sour or ammonia-like before cooking.
6 minStep 5: Pile onto a platter, scatter with 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley and serve at once with 2 lemon wedges.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 420 kcal
- Protein
- 28 g
- Carbs
- 19 g
- Fat
- 26 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bizri take?
- About 25 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of ground cumin?
- Cumin seeds, toasted and ground.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Moreton Bay bugsSlipper lobster with garlic butter
Moreton Bay bugs are the flat, shovel-nosed slipper lobsters caught off the Queensland coast around Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, and for Queenslanders they are a summer treat, split and grilled at the beach house. The tail meat is sweet and rich, somewhere between lobster and prawn. Buy them raw, frozen or fresh, from a fishmonger and ask them to halve them if you like. A common mistake is overcooking, which makes the meat rubbery; it is ready the moment it turns white. Chef's tip: grill flesh side down first to mark it, then turn and baste in the shell.
Australian
All i pebreEel and potato paprika stew
In El Palmar and the other villages around the Albufera lagoon south of Valencia, the restaurants that are famous for paella serve something older first: all i pebre, "garlic and pepper", a brick-red stew of lagoon eel and potatoes thickened with a pounded almond and fried-bread picada. It is rich, garlicky and gently hot, eaten with bread to mop up the sauce. Ask your fishmonger to skin and cut the eel, and handle it with gloves: raw eel blood is irritating, though harmless once cooked. If you can't find eel, monkfish or hake works well. A common mistake is letting the paprika burn; it turns bitter in seconds, so add it off the heat. Chef's tip: break the potatoes with a knife instead of cutting cleanly; the rough edges release starch and thicken the sauce.
Spanish
Midia saganakiMussels with tomato and feta
Thessaloniki is Greece's mussel capital, with farms in the Thermaic Gulf a few kilometres from the seafront ouzeries where this two-handled pan arrives, still bubbling, at the table. Mussels steam open in a quick sauce of peppers, tomato and chilli, and crumbled feta melts into the juices at the end. Bread is essential. The classic version adds a splash of ouzo; this one is alcohol-free, using a pinch of fennel seed for that aniseed note (add 2 tbsp ouzo with the tomatoes if you like). Common mistake: overcooking — take the pan off the heat as soon as the shells open. Chef's tip: buy mussels on the day and keep them in the fridge in a bowl covered with a damp cloth, never in water.
Greek