777—The Frying of Fish

In Part I. of this work I explained the general theory of frying (Chapter X., No. 262, Fryings); I shall now, therefore, only concern myself with the details of the operation in its relation to fish.

As a rule, frying should never be resorted to for very large fish or very thick slices of the latter, for, owing to the very high temperature that the operation enjoins, the outside of the fish would be dried up before the inside had even become affected.

If the fish to be fried is somewhat thick, it is best to cut several gashes in it, lengthwise and across, these being deeper and closer together the thicker the fish may be. The object of this measure is to facilitate the cooking, but the measure itself is quite unnecessary when dealing with small fish. In the case of flat-fish, partly detach the two underlying fillets on either side of the back-bone instead of gashing them.

All fish intended for frying (except Blanchailles and Whitebait) should first be steeped in salted milk, then rolled in flour before being plunged into the hot fat. If they be No. 174, Anglaise (for Egg-and-bread-crumbing),” however, as they generally are in England, the milk may be dispensed with, in which case, after they have been lightly coated with flour, they are completely dipped in an anglaise (No. 174, Anglaise (for Egg-and-bread-crumbing)) and afterwards rolled in white bread-crumbs. They should then be patted with the blade of a knife so as to ensure the cohesion of the whole coating, and, finally, the latter should be criss-crossed with the back of a knife with the view of improving the appearance when fried.

Fried fish are served either on a napkin, on a drainer, or on special dish-papers. They are garnished with fried parsley and properly trimmed half-lemons.