Tonight's dinner came all the way from Peru but it tasted just like the fresh Michigan Smelt I had in my youth. If you have never had a smelt I highly recommend you try them. These little delights were on sale at Save Mart Grocery Store for $2.99 a pound. A pound will serve three people very nicely allowing each person to enjoy about a dozen fish. I word to the wise ~ make your entire dinner, all the accompaniments, before you begin pan frying the fish because each batch of twelve takes only three minutes to cook.
Here is how you prepare smelt for pan frying. First wash each fish, removing the head (if it's still attached) and trim the tail and any fins left of the fish. I also remove the major spine from the majority of the fish's tiny ( 3 to 4 inch) body. Next, pat the fish with a paper towel to dry them, then shake a dozen at a time in a small paper bag with a cup of white flour. Place the fish in a single layer on a paper plate and salt and pepper them. Next, place the fish in just enough hot oil to fry them. The fish shouldn't be swimming in the oil, at last 1/3 of the fish should be out of the oil with the bottom 2/3's cooking in the oil. Cook for two minutes NO LONGER, then turn the fish over and continue cooking for ONE MINUTE. So they cook for a total of THREE minutes only. Last place the fish on a paper plate with several layers of paper towels beneath the fish to soak up any excess oil. Serve them immediately. No sauce required. Let me know what you think? My family loves them.
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