Authentically Italian Fried Fish

Have you ever travelled through a coastal town in Italy and ordered fried fish at a restaurant? You may have been surprised at how light and crispy the fish was, with just a thin layer of crunch and not a thick, soggy batter. The difference between the Italian simple style of frying and others is they simply dust the fish with flour, and add no eggs or breadcrumbs. Einkorn flour works much better than regular wheat flour for frying because it gets very crispy and golden yellow. If you are gluten free, you should know that this method of frying fish works just as well with fine corn meal.

The hardest part about making this dish will be finding the fish. In Italy, it is easy to find fresh anchovies like these and they are very inexpensive. Sardines, smelts, or flounder filets will work well. Large filets like cod will not fry well with this simple method.

Once the fish is cleaned, washed and patted very dry, you simply sprinkle flour on top and toss until coated. This can be done by adding einkorn or corn flour and fish in a plastic bag and shaking or just mixing with your hands. You should be adding the flour when the oil is already hot so the flour doesn’t become soggy.

Heat your oil of choice in a small frying pan. You will need about 2 inches of oil. We use extra virgin olive oil because we have a seed allergy, but if using olive oil, you have to keep the oil at a lower temperature so the oil doesn’t smoke. Sunflower oil works well for a light flavor. You will know the oil is at the right temperature when you drop in a piece of fish and it sinks and then rises right back up to the top quickly.

Drain the fish with a slotted spoon, then place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil. Keep frying small batches so the fish are not too crowded and they will brown quicker. Don’t worry about the first ones cooling down, they will stay crisp and delicious while you finish cooking all of the fish. Just spread them out on a paper towel on the serving dish.

Do not salt the fish before frying, but add sea salt after you have transferred the fish to the serving dish. We recommend serving fried fish with an abundance of fresh vegetables, like carrots, radishes, celery, etc. This fish can be reheated to crispy in a very hot oven in 5-10 minutes.