Fritura Malagueña

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy pan or deep frying pan, 28-30cm
• •Kitchen thermometer
• •Spider skimmer or slotted spoon
• •Wire rack or tray lined with clean brown paper
• •Wide sieve for shaking off flour

Instructions

1. 1

   Dry the fish

   Keep the fish cold while you work. Rinse only if needed, then drain very well and pat every piece dry with kitchen paper, especially the squid. Sprinkle with the 10g salt, leave on a rack for 10 minutes, then pat dry again. Salt pulls moisture to the surface, and surface water is what makes frying oil spit and flour turn pasty.

   If the fish smells sharp or tired, leave it. Fritura malagueña has nowhere to hide bad fish.
2. 2

   Heat the oil

   Pour the olive oil into a wide, heavy pan, no more than half full, and heat it to 185C. Set a rack or a tray lined with clean brown paper nearby, and have your paper cones or serving plate ready. The fish cooks in minutes, so the table needs to be ready before the first batch goes in.

3. 3

   Flour one batch

   Put the frying flour in a wide dish. Take only one small handful of fish at a time, toss it through the flour, then lift it into a sieve and shake hard. The fish should look dusty, not buried. Flour everything ahead and it goes damp while it waits, and then you have glue, not a crust.

4. 4

   Fry in tandas

   Lower the floured fish into the hot oil in small tandas, small batches, leaving space around each piece. Fry squid for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, boquerones for 2 to 3 minutes, small whiting or smelt for 2 to 3 minutes, and salmonetes for 3 to 4 minutes, depending on size. The coating should be pale gold and dry to the touch, never dark brown.

5. 5

   Let oil recover

   Lift each batch out with a spider or slotted spoon and drain on the rack or paper. Let the oil climb back to 185C before the next batch. This pause is not fussiness; it is the difference between crisp fish and oily fish. Pésalo, no lo adivines, and measure the heat too if you're new to frying.

6. 6

   Serve at once

   Pile the fritura into a paper cone or a shallow plate as the batches come out, with lemon wedges alongside. Do not cover it, and do not make it wait under a lid. A squeeze of lemon is welcome, but don't drown the fish. Eat it hot, while the edges still crackle.

Chef Tips

• •Boquerones are the backbone here. If you can find fresh anchovies, use them. If not, smelt is the honest substitute far from Málaga; it fries crisp and small, though the flavor is milder.
• •Use harina para freír pescado if you can get it. If not, mix 175g all-purpose flour with 75g fine semolina. Plain flour alone works, but it softens faster and gives less of that sandy-crisp Andalusian edge.
• •Leave chanquete alone. It was once famous on the Málaga coast, but the real tiny fish is protected and should not be chased for nostalgia. Use legal whitebait or smelt instead.
• •Fry just before serving. For a dinner party, clean the fish, set up the flour, heat the oil, and let people stand close while you cook. A fritura carried proudly from the kitchen ten minutes late has already lost the argument.
• •Drink something dry and cold with it: a fino, a manzanilla, or a small beer. Sweet drinks make fried fish taste heavier than it is.

Advance Preparation

• •Clean the fish up to 4 hours ahead, dry it well, and keep it uncovered on a rack in the refrigerator so the surface stays dry.
• •Mix the flour and semolina substitute several days ahead and keep it in an airtight container.
• •Do not flour or fry ahead. If you must hold a batch, keep it on a rack in a low 90C oven for no more than 10 minutes, knowing it will never be as crisp as fish served straight from the oil.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 300g)