How to quickly and tasty cook smelt - step-by-step recipe with photos

How long to fry smelt?

Cooking smelt is a very quick process, since especially small fish are often not even cleaned and are quickly fried, after which it tastes like crispy fish sticks and is eaten along with the spine and even the head. The average time for frying smelt is:

How long to fry smelt in a frying pan? In a frying pan, smelt must be fried for 3-5 minutes on each side in a well-heated frying pan.

Having found out how long to fry smelt, we will next consider the process of its preparation in order to know how to quickly and tasty fry this fish.

How to properly clean smelt for frying?

Before frying, the smelt must be washed well in cold water, and also cleaned of scales and entrails, while small fish are often not cleaned, since after frying the scales, small bones and even entrails are practically not felt and do not affect the taste (it’s still better clean the insides, as after frying the fish may taste bitter).

Smelt is usually cleaned in two ways:

They clean the scales with a knife, cut the belly and take out the insides of each fish.
They clean the fish of scales, after which an incision is made from the side of the ridge with scissors (cutting to the level of the stomach and cutting the ridge) and the head is separated, while removing all the insides from the fish.

Note: it is enough to defrost frozen smelt before frying and clean it in the same way as fresh (if it is not cleaned).

Having figured out how to properly clean smelt, we will next consider how to fry fish in a frying pan.

Recipe 4: how to bake smelt with onions in the oven (with photo)

fresh smelt (not gutted) - 500 grams (300 grams of cleaned fish);
onion - 100 grams;
red onion - 100 grams;
olive oil - 1 tsp. (5 grams);
balsamic vinegar - 1 tbsp. (10 grams);
salt, spices, bay leaf.

First, we wash the smelt, remove the scales (to do this you just need to rub it a little with your hands under water), remove the head and entrails. Tails and fins do not need to be removed.

Peel the red and onions and cut them into half rings.

Place the peeled smelt and chopped onion in a bowl, add salt, spices, one tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (can be replaced with apple or table vinegar), one teaspoon of olive oil. Mix everything, cover the bowl with a lid or film, and put it in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.

Place the smelt evenly on a baking sheet and sprinkle with pickled onions. There is no need to grease the baking tray with oil.

Cover the baking sheet with foil and place it in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, open the oven, remove the foil from the baking sheet, and bake the smelt for another 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven, let our dish cool a little, and now you can put it on plates)

Smelt baked in the oven with onions is ready! Bon appetit!

How to fry smelt in a frying pan?

Ingredients: smelt fish – 400 g, flour – 100 g, salt – 1 pinch, sunflower oil – 2-3 tbsp.
Total prep time: 10 minutes, frying time: 10 minutes.
Calorie content: 181 calories (per 100 grams of product).
Cuisine: Slavic. Type of dish: seafood. Number of servings: 2.

Frying smelt is not much different from frying other types of fish and proceeds in the following sequence:

After washing and cleaning the smelt, place it in a colander so that excess water drains from the fish and it dries out a little.
In a shallow bowl, mix flour and a little salt.
Pour vegetable oil into the frying pan (so that it covers the bottom of the frying pan by 2-3 mm) and heat it over high heat.
Dredge each fish in flour and salt on both sides and place in heated oil in a frying pan, then fry for 3-5 minutes on each side until golden brown.
Place the finished fried smelt on a plate and serve.

In conclusion to the article, it can be noted that knowing how to deliciously fry smelt in a frying pan, you can quickly prepare this fish for any side dish or as a separate dish in less than half an hour. We leave our reviews and useful tips on how much and how to fry smelt in a frying pan with a crust in flour and salt in the comments to the article and share it on social networks if it was useful to you.

Yulia Sabinova

Chief editor of the site. Cook, technologist, traveler. I love to cook, read interesting articles about cooking and proper nutrition, learn everything new and share the most interesting things with others. I am glad to see you on the pages of the InfoEda website.

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Recipe 3: smelt in the oven with zucchini and cheese

Despite its modesty, smelt has many high-ranking admirers from kings to presidents. There is even a festival held in honor of this humble fish. Baked smelt with vegetables in foil is prepared very quickly. It will take 45 minutes to prepare the dish, and the ingredients listed in the recipe make 3 servings.

smelt – 3 pcs.;
zucchini – 1 pc.;
carrots – 1 pc.;
onion – 1 pc.;
olive oil – 10 g;
mozzarella – 50 g;
seasoning for fish – 5 g;
bay leaf – 2 pcs.

We choose smelt. For one serving you will need one large fish with transparent eyes and pink gills - the hallmarks of fresh fish. The fish must be washed well, the belly cut, and the entrails and gills removed.

For three servings of fish, take one medium-sized zucchini squash and cut it into thin slices. Peel the carrots and cut into slices.

Line a baking sheet with foil and spray it with olive oil. Cut the onions into half rings, place them on foil, add some carrots. Place smelt on vegetables. This is a very convenient way to protect baked fish from burning.

Cover the smelt tightly with slices of vegetables.

Sprinkle fish and vegetables with salt and fish seasoning. Add two bay leaves. Cover the baking dish with a layer of foil and place in the oven preheated to 180 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, take out the baked smelt and remove the foil. Cut the Mozzarella cheese into large pieces and spread throughout the dish. Place the dish with smelt in the oven again for 2-3 minutes to melt the cheese.

Serve the smelt hot, sprinkling the dish with herbs. A side dish for smelt is vegetables baked with it - zucchini and carrots. The result is a low-calorie dish that can be quickly prepared for lunch or dinner, since smelt belongs to the category of fish that is very easy to process. This is how delicious baked smelt with vegetables in foil looks.

Smelt in flour

We will need:

— Gutted smelt – 500-700 gr.
— High-grade wheat flour – 4 tablespoons.
- A few drops of lemon juice.
— Ground pepper, salt.
- Any greenery for decoration.

This dish is incredibly easy to prepare. The prepared smelt should be mixed with salt, pepper, a few drops of lemon juice and flour. Using your hands, distribute the flour evenly over each fish, and then place everything on a baking sheet greased with vegetable oil and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes at 180 degrees.
The browned, crispy fish should be sprinkled with any chopped herbs of your choice and can be served to guests.

How to cook smelt deliciously in the oven, recipe in foil

To prepare you will need:

— 700-800 gr. smelt.
- 2-3 onions.
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.
- ½ lemon.
— Any vegetable oil.
- Salt and spices to taste.
— Food foil for baking.

Cooking process.

Wash the fish, gut them, and let them dry for 10 minutes.
While the seafood is draining, cut the onions into half rings. It is best to use lettuce blue or white onions for this recipe.
Place the smelt in a deep bowl, add onion, salt and spices to it, mix these products with your hands, trying to distribute the seasonings evenly across all the fish.
Line a baking sheet with foil, leaving some to cover the dish.
Grease the foil with oil, place your fish on it carefully one at a time, preferably alternating the tails and heads.
6. Sprinkle everything with lemon juice, cover with the second part of the foil, send to bake in the oven, heated to 190-200 degrees for twenty minutes.
7. After the specified time, open the oven, remove the foil from the smelt and leave it in the oven to brown a little. Ten minutes will be enough for this.

The finished fish can be served as an independent dish, or it can be served with a side dish of fresh vegetables, rice or potatoes.

Ask the chef!

Didn't manage to cook the dish? Don't be shy, ask me personally.

How to cook smelt with sour cream

Ingredients:

- Smelt - 20-25 pieces.
- A tablespoon of flour.
- One egg.
- Breadcrumbs - 2 spoons.
— Butter and vegetable oils – 10-15 g each.
— Leek – 1 pc.
— Dry white wine – 20-30 ml.
- A couple of garlic cloves.
— Cream from 33% fat content – 25 ml.
- The fattest sour cream (it is best to use homemade) - 180 ml.
- Spices to your liking.

Cooking process step by step.

Chop the onion and garlic, fry these products in vegetable oil with the addition of wine.
As soon as the vegetables are browned, add cream, sour cream and melted butter into a frying pan, mix, add salt and pepper, and let the sauce boil.
Cool the finished mixture and grind it using a blender into a homogeneous liquid mass. Its color should be pleasant, olive.
Roll the washed and peeled smelt in flour, then in an egg beaten until foamy and in breadcrumbs. Place the fish on a baking sheet lightly greased with oil. Place in the oven for 12-15 minutes (cooking temperature 180 degrees).
Take out the slightly browned fish, pour it with your sauce, and send it back to bake for another ten minutes.
Place the finished seafood on a beautiful dish, pour hot sauce on top and serve with home-cooked potatoes.

Now you know how to cook delicious smelt in the oven

, bon appetit and new culinary achievements for you!

How to fry smelt: to peel or not?

Having bought smelt, many are puzzled by the question of whether to clean it or not.
Indeed, if the fish is very small, there is no need to clean it, just rinse it with water and remove the scales, which fall off the fish without effort when washing. However, larger fish must be cleaned, as the insides are bitter. There is a secret to cleaning smelt, which makes cleaning it a pleasure, watch the video:

Video: how to clean smelt correctly?

It’s interesting that many people like it if the fish is only washed before frying and not cleaned at all, but cooked together with the head and entrails. You can cook it that way too.

Fried smelt recipe

Ingredients:

500 g smelt.
80 ml vegetable oil.
100 g wheat flour.
Salt.
Ground black pepper.

Cooking time: 30 minutes.
Number of servings: 3.

Weight of the finished dish: 450 g.

Preparation:

Cut off the head of the fish and gut it. Rinse the smelt treated in this way in cold running water.
Mix salt and pepper with flour. Dredge the fish on all sides in this breading.
Heat the oil and place the smelt in the pan. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Smelt is a small fish, so it does not require much time to cook.

Smelt fried in marinade

Ingredients:

700 g smelt
1 carrot
1 onion bulb
70 ml vinegar
1 tbsp. Sahara
1 tsp salt
80 ml vegetable oil
2 bay leaves
10 allspice peas

Preparation time: 1 day.
Number of servings: 5.

Weight of the finished dish: 750 g.

Preparation:

Process the smelt as in the previous recipe: remove the head and entrails, rinse and dry.
Place the fish in hot oil and fry until browned.
Cut the onion into half rings.
Coarsely grate the carrots.
Pour salt, sugar into 500 ml of water, add pepper and bay leaf. Boil. After this, add onions and carrots and cook for 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Pour in vinegar and bring to a boil again. Allow the finished marinade to cool slightly.
Pour the prepared material over the fish. Allow to cool to room temperature. Leave in the refrigerator for a day.

Boiled potatoes are best suited as a side dish for fried smelt. Fried fish can also be served simply with fresh or pickled vegetables. How to fry smelt in a frying pan is extremely simple. So it’s quite possible to treat yourself to this fish from time to time.

How to eat fried smelt?

Many small fish are eaten directly with the bones. They are tender and completely digestible, providing the body with calcium and phosphorus. If the smelt has been fried with its head and entrails, there is no need to eat it along with all this goodness, you will have to peel it in your own plate, see how it’s done correctly:

Basic recipe

We offer you a classic recipe for preparing this amazing fish. It is elementary, but the resulting dish will surprise you with its excellent taste! From the ingredients

need to purchase:

Smelt - 1 kg;
Seasoning for fish and salt - to taste;
Flour - 4 tbsp;
Vegetable oil - needed for frying.

Preparation:

If the fish is frozen, let it thaw at room temperature, if not, start cleaning;
Clean the smelt from scales and internal organs, rinse thoroughly under running water (it’s most convenient to do this by first placing it in a colander);
Place the fish on a paper towel. If you have time, let it lie down for a while and dry; if not, get wet so that excess moisture is absorbed;
Mix flour, seasonings and salt. Pour these ingredients into a cling film bag, and then start adding smelt to them in portions. To ensure that it is completely coated in the dry mix, do not put too many fish, turn and shake them until you achieve the desired effect;
Heat a frying pan and vegetable oil in it, lay out the resulting semi-finished product also gradually, in small portions;
It is necessary to fry the smelt until an appetizing crust appears (≈2 minutes on each side);
As a side dish you can serve sauerkraut salad, pickled beets or traditional potatoes.

How to cook smelt deliciously in the oven: secrets and cooking tips

To cook smelt deliciously in the oven, it is important to know a few simple rules:

Before sending the fish to bake, you should clean it of scales. The scales of smelt can be peeled off very quickly and easily; you will spend no more than 5-10 minutes on this process, and the dish will become much brighter and tastier. After cleaning, you should rinse the carcasses under running water so that small scales do not get into the food.
Many people are accustomed to cooking small fish without gutting them. It can be correct, it takes less time to cook. But don’t be lazy, open each fish and take out the insides, leaving the caviar if you find any. Gutted baked smelt will never have the bitter taste that the insides of unpeeled seafood can impart. In addition, gutted fish is also healthier, because it is in the intestines that the largest amount of harmful substances that can get into your food is collected.
After frying or baking, it is best to place small fish first on a paper towel and only then on a serving plate. This will remove excess fat from your dish.
The cooking time for smelt should be set independently, taking into account the size of the fish and the cooking temperature. To cook using one method, it is best to choose fish carcasses that are approximately the same size. This will allow the food to cook evenly. If one fish is small, and the second is larger, if the likelihood is that during baking, large carcasses will remain unprepared, and the small ones will already burn.

And now, if you want to get a really tasty, aromatic, appetizing-looking smelt in the oven, we offer recipes for preparing this fish step by step.