Dan.fusaro

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There’s a saying in Italian: fritte son bone anche le scarpe, meaning “even a shoe tastes good when it’s fried”. Well, I couldn’t agree more, and seafood tastes especially delicious when it’s fried—good enough to convince even the piscatorially challenged.

The fritto misto di mare, a platter of assorted fried seafood is hugely popular in Campania but found all over Italy. It will always include crustaceans and mollusks, typically shrimp and squid, and often very small whole fish, such as fresh anchovies or sardines, or baby mackerel or mullet, collectively known as paranza. Here in the US, you might look for fresh sardines or smelt; they are hard to find but occasionally make an appearance, especially in areas with large Italian-American communities. But you should really feel free to include whatever seafood that’s fresh and available to you locally. For today’s fritto misto di mare, I couldn’t find any tiny fish in the market, but I did spy some local soft shell crabs, as well as some gorgeously plump scallops, which were a rare and expensive treat back in Rome.

A fritto misto di mare is sometimes batter-fried (see Notes below), but the simplest and my personal favorite method is the one we’ll present today: The seafood is lightly coated in flour and quickly deep fried in hot oil until golden brown. If you ask me, there’s no better way to prepare seafood.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

A total of 2-2.5 kilos (4-5 lbs) of mixed seafood, which should, at a minimum, should include:

• Jumbo shrimp
• Squid

Plus, if you like, one or more of the following:

• Fresh sardines or smelts or other tiny fish
• Scallops
• Soft shell crabs
• Crayfish

Directions

Step 1: Prepping the seafood

The shrimp (as well as other crustaceans like crayfish) should be shelled, but leave the tails on. (If you’ve found shrimp with their heads—a rarity here in the States but normal in Italy—leave them on, too.)

If you’ve bought your squid already cleaned, almost all squid is these days, at least here in the US, then proceed to cut the squid sacks into rings about 1 cm (1/3 in) thick; the tentacles can be left whole. And don’t forget the tentacles; I agree with the Japanese, who say they’re the best part of the squid. (If the squid hasn’t been cleaned, see this video for instructions.)

If using soft shell crabs, cut them in half down the middle vertically, then horizontally, so that each crab makes four pieces.

Scallops in the US are sold out of their shells, but if you are elsewhere and buy them in still in their shells, detach them by gently sliding a paring knife between the scallop and its shell. [Remove the roe sack as well.]

The small fish, assuming you fishmonger has cleaned it for you—can be cooked as is.

You should lay out your prepared seafood on paper towels to soak up any excess liquid:

Step 2: Flouring the Seafood

Now lightly flour your seafood. I like to do this by placing my seafood in a plastic bag, then spoon in 1-2 spoonfuls of flour, and shake the bag around until all the pieces are lightly coated, like so:

Then pour the contents of the bag into a colander. Shake the colander to eliminate the excess flour. The seafood should look something like this:

Step 3: Deep Frying the Seafood

Now it’s time to fry. Heat your oil in a fryer or a deep cast iron pot until it is very hot. In a deep fryer, just crank the temperature up as high as it will go, to a temperature of 190C/375F. If using frying in a pot, then use a [deep frying] thermometer if you have one; if not, then heat it until just before the oil begins to smoke.

Deep dry the fish quickly in the hot oil, until the seafood is just cooked through and a light golden crust has formed on the outside. This should take no more than 2-3 minutes. Avoid overcooking the fish.

NB: Unless I’m dealing with a single portion, I like to flour and fry each type of seafood separately, as they do cook at slightly different rates, with the shrimp or smaller bay scallops taking almost no time, while the squid and crab can take a bit longer, as can larger scallops. In any case, don’t overcrowd the deep fryer and proceed in batches if you need to.

Drain your fried fish on paper towels or a cooling rack as they are done like so:

Step 4: Serving the Seafood

Once all your seafood is cooked, transfer them to a serving platter (preferably lined with paper towels to soak up any excess oil), sprinkle lightly with salt, and serve your fritto misto di mare with lemon wedges.

It is crucial to serve fried foods as soon as possible after they’re done, while they’re still nice and hot and crispy. As they say in Naples, frijenno e magnanno—which, loosely translated, means “fry it and eat it”. But if you really need to make it ahead, or if you have so much fish that some is already cold by the time the last of it is done, you can return all the fish to the deep fryer for a  quick dip to warm up—but this should literally just be for a few seconds. Then drain again and serve.

Notes on Fritto misto di mare

My main tip for making a great fritto misto di mare is avoid overcooking the seafood. While I usually advise balance when deep frying meat or vegetables—not too hot, not too cool—for seafood, which cooks very quickly, I find the best method is to fry at the highest temperature possible, for the shortest time possible, just long enough to cook the seafood through but not a moment more. The result is seafood as it best, sweet and briny and juicy. Taste a piece before serving—you’ll be surprised how little salt or other seasoning it actually needs.

As mentioned, a fritto misto di mare can be made with a light batter of flour, olive oil and enough water to make a cream-like mixture. Some batters call for adding egg to the batter, which you can add whole or, if you want to get fancy, add the yolk and then (just before frying) fold in the egg white, which you will have whipped into a foam. Egg batters, especially if you whip your egg whites, will be quite thick. You need to let any batter sit for about an hour before using. Make sure you’re seafood is quite dry before coating with your batter, or the batter will tend to slip off in the frying. Batter-fried seafood take a bit longer to cook than when lightly floured, so increase the frying time by a minute or two.

For the oil, while some recipes, especially the older ones, call for olive oil, for deep frying at high heat I find peanut oil or the more reasonably prices safflower oil, does a better job. As for the flour, it is the subject of some controversy. Some recipes call for hard-wheat flour, others insist on soft “OO” flour, some on semolina. I simply use the kind known here in the US as “All Purpose” and it works just fine. And while a fritto misto di mare generally doesn’t include vegetables, unlike a meat-based fritto misto which almost always does, occasionally you will find a recipe that calls for some slices of zucchini or other summer vegetables; these are always fried covered in batter, even if your seafood isn’t.

The post Fritto misto di mare appeared first on Memorie di Angelina.

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Shoot.

Gun fans who fear they've lost the Second Amendment war in America's eating establishments should visit Shooter's (location: Rifle, Colorado), where on any given day the waitresses alone pack enough heat to neutralize a posse of Open Carry activists. The year-old burger spot doesn't require staff to carry guns, but all nine waitresses do, anyway, in large, conspicuous holsters. Their tableside arsenal includes Glocks and a thigh-length Rueger Blackhawk .357. On the menu are items like the Smith & Wesson Grilled Cheese and Locked and Loaded Nachos. Also, your salt shaker is a converted shotgun shell; in other words, the place is way, way beyond gun-friendly.

The setup is not just a bonanza of a publicity stunt, either: Owner Lauren Boebert assures everyone the servers pack real heat. "No, they're real and they're loaded, and we know what we're doing. I fear for anyone who tries to rob us."

Because of tricky open-carry laws, though, there's no alcohol allowed, but elsewhere, the times are certainly changing: In Oklahoma, the Omaha city council has just unanimously approved plans for a bar and café to open inside a massive shooting range, after reviewing plans to keep the drunk and armed customers safe and separate by making them wear ID bracelets.

At Colorado Burger Joint, Waitresses Pack Heat [Fox News]
Shooter's in Rifle Serves a Big Helping of Second Amendment [Summit Daily]
Related: Massive Oklahoma Gun Range Will Have Attached Bar and Cafe for Some Reason

Read more posts by Clint Rainey

Filed Under: open carry, colorado, gun rights, shooter's grill

Sichuan peppercorns and dried chilies add mouth-tingling heat to Kung Pao fish. [Photographs: Shao Z.]

Study cuisines from around the world, and you'll find that many tend to rely on fairly consistent bases of aromatic vegetables, no matter the dish. In France, this vegetable base is known as mirepoix, and features celery, onions, and carrots. In Creole cooking, it's known as the holy trinity—onion, celery, and green bell peppers. Italy, Spain, German, and other countries and cuisines have their own variations, as well. So what would the Chinese equivalent of mirepoix or the holy trinity be? The answer depends largely on the region.

In this series, we'll look at two of the most fundamental aromatic bases used in Chinese cooking: spicy (chili peppers and garlic) and aromatic (ginger, scallion, and garlic). Yesterday, we explored the garlicky and fiery, fresh chili heat of Hunanese cooking. Today, we'll look at another nearby region that's famous for its spicy aromatic bases: Sichuan.

Located west of Hunan in southwestern China, Sichuan cuisine also relies heavily on garlic and chilies. But unlike the fresh, potently spicy chilies of Hunanese food, Sichuan cooking tends to rely more on dried chilies, along with zesty, mouth-numbing doses of Sichuan peppercorns. While called "peppercorns" in English, they're not actually related to black, white, or green peppercorns at all. Instead, these guys are the tiny dried fruit husks of Zanthoxylum, a plant native to China and Taiwan. The hot, numbing, tingling sensation—known as "mala" in Chinese—produced by Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers is the calling card of that region's cuisine.

And of all the Sichuan dishes, Kung Pao chicken is likely the first one that comes to mind for most people. Spicy and flavorful in a way that keeps you coming back for more, Kung Pao showcases the classic mala aromatics of Sichuan cooking. In this version, made with fish, you want to select a firm, white-fleshed fish that will hold up well to frying, such as tilapia or catfish.

I start by cubing the fish and tossing it with a marinade of soy sauce, ground white pepper, and cornstarch, along with a little egg white to help bind it together.

Then, working in batches, I fry the fish in hot oil in a wok, until golden on all sides.

Discarding the frying oil, I clean out the wok and dry it thoroughly to prepare for stir-frying.

I also go ahead and mix together the dish's sauce ingredients, which include soy sauce, rice vinegar, doubanjiang (Chinese fermented bean paste), sugar, and cornstarch.

With a fresh tablespoon of oil in the wok and heated until smoking, I throw in the aromatics and stir fry until the garlic is lightly golden and the dried chilies, scallions, and Sichuan peppercorns have had a chance to release their nuanced flavors.

Then I add the sauce to the wok, which thickens almost immediately, thanks to the cornstarch. Finally, I gently fold in the fried fish, being careful not to break the pieces.

One plated, I garnish the dish with roasted peanuts and serve right away.

It would be fun to prepare yesterday's Hunan cabbage with fresh chiles and this recipe in close succession, for a direct comparison of what they have in common (spicy chilies, garlic, scallions), and what's different (dried versus fresh chilies and Sichuan peppercorns).

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