Smazhena Tyulka (смажена тюлька, fried Black Sea sprats)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A wide heavy frying pan or cast-iron skillet
• •A shallow dish for flouring
• •Tongs or a slotted spoon
• •A wire rack or paper towels for draining

Instructions

1. 1

   Sort the fish

   Rinse the tyulka quickly in cold water and pull out any bruised fish. If they are tiny, leave them whole; if they are bigger than your little finger and smell a little strong, pinch off the heads and draw out the insides with them. Lay the fish on a clean towel and pat until the skins lose their wet shine and feel lightly tacky.

   Water is the enemy here. Damp fish turn the flour to paste, and paste drinks oil.
2. 2

   Season the flour

   Mix the flour, salt, black pepper, and paprika if using in a wide shallow dish. It should smell peppery and taste properly seasoned, because the fish will only wear a thin coat of it.

3. 3

   Heat the oil

   Pour sunflower oil into a wide heavy pan to the depth of a little fingernail. Heat it until a pinch of flour hisses at once and floats, not sinks. If it darkens immediately, pull the pan aside for a breath; if it sits there sulking, wait.

4. 4

   Flour in batches

   Toss one loose handful of tyulka through the flour, lift them out, and shake away the extra. Flour only what will fit in the pan right now. Aunt Nadia would write "not too many" and leave me to learn the rest, but she was right: crowded fish make the pan go quiet.

5. 5

   Fry until bronze

   Lay the fish into the hot oil in one layer. They should shout at first, then settle into a finer, drier crackle as the tails bronze and the flour tightens around the skins. Turn them once with tongs or a slotted spoon and cook the other side until the bodies feel firm and the edges are crisp.

   Listen before you look. Fierce bubbling means surface water is leaving; the quieter dry crackle means the crust is arriving.
6. 6

   Salt and serve

   Lift the fried tyulka onto a rack or paper towel and salt them while the oil still glistens. Repeat with the remaining fish, letting the oil come back to its lively hiss between batches. Pile them onto a platter, scatter with dill and thin onion, and serve with lemon or a spoonful of fermented cucumber brine, rye bread, or boiled potatoes. Eat them bones and all.

Chef Tips

• •Fresh tyulka should smell clean and briny, never sharp with ammonia. Frozen sprats work well, just thaw them overnight in the fridge and dry them with more patience than you think they need.
• •Refined sunflower oil is practical for frying because it handles heat. If you have good unrefined green sunflower oil, drizzle a little over the onions at the end. Ukraine in a bottle of oil.
• •Half flour and half fine cornmeal gives a rougher crust. A bit more modern, but very good with beer and a plate of fermented tomatoes.
• •Do not cover the fried fish while they are hot. They soften under a lid. Leftovers are good cold on black bread with dill, onion, and pickled cucumber.
• •If you can only find larger sardines or sprats, clean them first and fry a little longer. The idea stays the same, but tiny tyulka are the ones you eat without thinking about bones.

Advance Preparation

• •If using frozen tyulka, thaw overnight in the fridge, then drain and dry well before cooking.
• •Slice the onion while the fish dries; toss it with a pinch of salt and a few drops of lemon juice or ferment brine if you want it softer.
• •Do not flour the fish ahead. Flour them only just before they go into the pan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 230g)