Golden Fried Anchovies. A tasty dish to serve as an appetizer or main course, always sure to generate much enthusiasm.

This dish has humble origins, combining quality and savings: anchovies are very inexpensive, can be found at local markets or from a trusted fishmonger, and are very simple to prepare.

The anchovies are carefully cleaned, drained, floured, and passed through beaten egg, then fried and taste how delicious they are

How to recognize fresh fish: the eye should be bright, slightly bulging, and the pupil completely black.
If the anchovies have all these characteristics, you can be sure of their freshness and eat them without any worries.

Difficulty: Very Easy
Cost: Inexpensive
Preparation time: 15 Minutes
Portions: 4/6
Cooking methods: Frying
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: All Seasons

252.20 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 252.20 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 11.18 (g) of which sugars 2.15 (g)
Proteins 23.10 (g)
Fat 13.15 (g) of which saturated 3.73 (g)of which unsaturated 9.03 (g)
Fibers 0.55 (g)
Sodium 475.48 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 130 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA^* and FoodData Central^** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.

^* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ^** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

Ingredients for Golden Fried Anchovies

1.75 lbs anchovies
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs (2 if large)
to taste salt
as needed peanut oil (for frying)
1 lemon (optional)

Tools

Slotted Spoon
Strainer
Paper Towels
2 Plates
Frying Pan

Steps for Golden Fried Anchovies

First, let’s proceed with cleaning the fresh anchovies.
You will need to remove the head and the central bone.
(How to clean anchovies: take the head between your thumb and index finger and pull, twisting slightly, the guts will come away by themselves.
Place your thumb parallel to the bone, press and push, as if you were filleting, always with the fingertip pressed against the bone.
This way you will open them without causing much damage and they will remain intact and perfect).
Rinse them well under running water and let them drain.
At this point, open them like a book, being careful not to detach them.
In a bowl, beat the eggs with a pinch of salt.
In another plate or container, pour the flour.
Now you can proceed to bread the anchovies: pass them one by one first in the flour, on both sides, gently shaking off the excess flour, then dip them in the beaten eggs, again on both sides.
Meanwhile, we have already heated a pan with enough hot oil to fry the golden anchovies, then place them on kitchen paper towels so they can drain some of the frying oil.
Tip: Use oil at a medium-high temperature, but not too hot (about 340°F is fine) otherwise your anchovies will cook too dry. If you don’t have a thermometer to measure the temperature, don’t worry, you’ll notice the oil is too hot if the anchovies “curl up” during frying, in this case, let the oil temperature drop a bit.
Serve the anchovies prepared this way with lemon slices, they are excellent drizzled with lemon juice.
Enjoy your meal.