Blue Anchovy
Anchovy

[Encrasicholina devisi]
This Indo-Pacific fish can grow to 3 inches but the photo specimen, shown with a toothpick for scale, was 2-1/2 inches and wighed .075 ounce (that's over 200 to the pound). They are found in the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean and the West-Central Pacific as far southeast as Fiji and as far north Taiwan.

Fried

Clearly you are not going to be filleting this fish except under a microsocope. This is a fish to fry crisp and eat "head guts and feathers". Not an exact fit to the the delicate sensibilities of the baby spinach set.

  1. Heat oil for deep fry - it doesn't have to be really deep for these fish.
  2. Rinse the fish and drain thoroughly in a strainer.
  3. Mix salt to taste and rice flour (yes, rice flour, thesea are Indo-Pacific fish) in a plastic bag. Dump the fish in and shake the bag until they are evenly coated.
  4. Pour the fish out into a strainer and shake the strainer over a plate until as much flour as is going to fall off falls off.
  5. Fry fish in hot oil until crispy and lightly colored.
  6. Serve with a light dipping sauce and/or lemon wedges.

sf_anchobuz 060902
©Andrew Grygus - ajg@aaxnet.com - Linking and non-commercial use permitted