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Pescaíto frito
Mixed fried fish
Pescaíto frito: Málaga's crisp mixed fried fish, beach-bar style
On the beaches of Pedregalejo and El Palo in Málaga, chiringuito cooks shake small fish in flour and fry them by the basketful: whole fresh anchovies (boquerones), rings of squid, strips of dogfish and little red mullet, served piled on paper with lemon. The secret is a coarse frying flour, partly durum semolina, and very clean, hot oil, so each piece comes out crisp and dry. Eat it at once, at the table, with a cold drink and a salad. Chef's tip: shake off every bit of loose flour in a sieve before frying; excess flour burns and makes the oil dark and bitter.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 14 oz fresh anchoviesgutted, heads removed, rinsed and patted dry
- 10 ½ oz squidcleaned, body cut into 1 cm rings, tentacles kept
- 10 ½ oz firm white fish filletsuch as hake or dogfish, cut into 2 cm strips
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 3 ½ oz plain flour
- 3 ½ oz fine durum wheat semolina
- 4 ¼ cups olive oil or sunflower oilfor deep frying
- 2 lemonscut into wedges
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What you'll need
Fresh ingredients (2)
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Pat 14 oz fresh anchovies, 10 ½ oz squid and 10 ½ oz firm white fish fillet completely dry with kitchen paper and season with 1 ½ tsp salt. Wet fish makes the coating gummy.
Step 2: Mix 3 ½ oz plain flour and 3 ½ oz fine durum wheat semolina in a large bowl.
Step 3: Heat 4 ¼ cups olive oil or sunflower oil in a deep pan or fryer to 350°F; a cube of bread should go golden in about 40 seconds.
8 minStep 4: Toss a handful of fish in the flour, then shake it in a sieve so only a thin, even dusting remains.
Step 5: Fry in small batches for 1½–3 minutes: squid rings about 1½ minutes, anchovies 2 minutes, fish strips 3 minutes, until pale gold and crisp and the fish inside is opaque and flakes. A common mistake is crowding the pan: the oil cools and the fish steams soggy.
12 minStep 6: Drain on kitchen paper, keep warm in a low oven while you fry the rest, and let the oil come back to 350°F between batches.
Step 7: Pile onto a platter with 2 lemons and serve immediately.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 460 kcal
- Protein
- 41 g
- Carbs
- 34 g
- Fat
- 18 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pescaíto frito take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 20 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 lemons?
- Lime, or 2 tbsp bottled lemon juice per lemon (no zest from bottled juice).
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