White Anchovy

[species unidentified]

This anchovy was acquired from an Asian market in Los Angeles. There are so many anchovy species that all look almost exactly alike, and as many without photos as with them on Fishbase, I'm not going to try to guess species or range, but it's almost certainly not the Mediterranean White Anchovy listed in Fishbase. The photo specimen was 3-1/4 inches long and weighed about 0.1 ounce (10 to the ounce).

Buying:

I have found these in Asian markets in Los Angeles, but they are strictly a "buy it when you see it" item, not something that is often in stock.

Cooking:

This is pretty much a "fry 'em up and eat 'em head guts and feathers" sort of fish. Those in the photo were lightly dusted with rice flour and deep fried (rice flour doesn't brown much so the white color is maintained). Serve with a Southeast Asian fish sauce and rice vinegar dip.

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