MIXED FRIED SEAFOOD

• 

• For a good seafood fry, first prepare the fish.

  The base consists of shrimps and squid, which are a must.
  Start with the shrimps by removing the head and shell.

  Then clean the squid: gut them, remove the quill and the eye, but keep the tentacles and fins after removing the skin. Cut the body into rather thin rings.

  Anchovies or silver scabbardfish provide great flavor: remove the head and gut them.

  You can then add other small-sized fish like small cod and small sole.
  After preparing and cleaning the fish, wash and keep it refrigerated until use.

  Shortly before frying, soak the fish briefly in ice-cold water.

  Drain—without patting dry with paper towels, it is important that the fish does not drip but is wet—and transfer it to a bowl with plenty of flour. Shake the bowl vigorously so that the flour coats each piece completely.

  Take a little fish at a time and pass it through a wide-mesh sieve, shaking enough but not too much, as there should be no excess flour, but if too little, the delightful crispiness that characterizes a perfect seafood fry won’t form.

  At this point, put the sunflower or peanut oil in a high-sided pan and place it on the stove. The oil must be very abundant and hot, around 356°F. You need a lot because it shouldn’t lose temperature when you add the cold fish, and the pan should be wide so the pieces don’t touch each other. For the first two minutes, don’t move anything to prevent the coating from coming off. Then, with a spider skimmer, move it, extracting and replacing the fried pieces in the oil repeatedly.

  Drain, pass on paper towels, and place on the plate.

  Serve quickly because the fry should reach the table hot.