Hot and Crispy Fried Smelt Fish Perfect with Vinegar
Fried smelt fish anyone? These tiny fried fishes are your next go-to chips with a side of vinegar hot sauce! Perfectly fried with an easy herb coating and easy to pop in your mouth! Good luck not finishing the batch!
Ingredients
Smelt Fish
- ½ pound smelt fish cleaned and prepped
- 2 cups canola oil
- ¼ cup flour
- ½ tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
Vinegar Hot Sauce (optional)
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 1 garlic clove minced or pressed
- hot sauce to taste
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pour the oil into a 9-inch pan over medium-high heat. It will take between 5-6 minutes for the oil to heat.
- While the oil is heating, put the flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and salt and pepper to taste in a Ziploc. Close the bag and toss gently.
- Pat dry the cleaned smelt fish with a paper towel to remove any moisture. Put the fish in the Ziploc with the seasoning and toss until evenly coated.
- Using a colander or a strainer, dump the smelts from the Ziploc bag to remove the excess flour.
- Once the oil is heated, toss the smelt in the pan and fry for 3-5 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer the smelt fish to a wire rack to cool and to remove excess oil. Serve warm with the vinegar hot sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you didn't buy the smelt fish already cleaned and de-gutted, make sure you plan for this during your prep work. Refer to Sam’s Pro Tips for this Hot and Crispy Fried Smelt Fish for further discussion on how to clean the fish.
- Smelt fish is best enjoyed warm or room temperature. It may get soggy when cold.
- For the vinegar sauce, add a couple dabs of hot sauce to your preference. I used Tapatio hot sauce to mix with the vinegar.