-
Preparation
15 minutes
-
Processing
25 minutes
-
Difficulty
Easy
Crispy fried sardines are not only visually appealing but also enticing with their strong, alluring aroma, especially when dipped in sweet and sour fish sauce, which will surely make your family love it. Let’s get into the kitchen to make this fried dish right away!
Ingredients for Crispy Fried Sardines Serves 2
Sardines 6 pieces Cucumber 1 piece Shallots 3 bulbs Garlic 9 cloves Ginger 50 gr Galangal 50 gr Lemongrass 1 stalk Chili 1 piece Lemon juice 1 tablespoon Chili powder 1/2 tablespoon Fish sauce 3.5 tablespoons Chili sauce 1 tablespoon Cooking oil 200 ml Rice washing water A little Common spices A little (sugar/ monosodium glutamate/ salt/ seasoning powder)
How to choose fresh sardines
- You should choose sardines with shiny, firm scales tightly attached to the body.
- Prioritize sardines with clear eyes, visible pupils, and slightly bulging.
- Do not choose sardines that feel too soft when touched, lack elasticity, and have an unusual fishy smell.
How to prepare Crispy Fried Sardines
-
Prepare the sardines
Clean the sardines thoroughly, use a knife to scrape off the scales, cut off the fins, head, and remove the entrails, making a few cuts on both sides of the fish to help it cook more evenly when frying.
To eliminate the fishy smell, you can soak them in rice water for about 10 minutes and then rinse several times with clean water, then place them in a colander to drain.
Effective methods to eliminate fishy smell
- To remove the fishy smell, you can soak the fish in diluted salt water for about 15 minutes and then rinse with cold water.
- Additionally, you can use unsweetened fresh milk to soak the fish for effective odor removal.
- Another method to effectively eliminate the fishy smell is to soak the fish in rice water for about 10 – 15 minutes.
See details: 7 tips to easily and effectively remove fishy smell
-
Marinate the fish
Peel and wash the ginger and galangal, then chop them finely. Remove the old branches from the lemongrass, cut off the old leaves and roots, wash it clean, and chop it finely as well. Peel the cucumber, wash it clean, cut it in half, and slice it thinly.
Add the shallots, 2/3 of the minced garlic, ginger, galangal, and 1/2 of the lemongrass into a mortar and pound them until fine.
Then, put this mixture into a bowl containing the fish, add the chopped cucumber, season with 1/2 tablespoon of MSG, 1/2 tablespoon of seasoning powder, 1/2 tablespoon of fish sauce, and 1/2 tablespoon of chili powder, mix well, and marinate the fish for 1 hour.
-
Fry the fish
Place a pan on the stove, add 200ml of cooking oil to the pan, gently drop the fish in and fry it until crispy on both sides for about 10 minutes.
Turn the fish regularly to ensure it cooks evenly and doesn’t burn.
After frying for about 10 minutes, when the fish is golden brown, transfer it to a plate to drain excess oil.
-
Making dipping sauce
To make the dipping sauce, you add the remaining lemongrass and garlic into a bowl, add 1 sliced chili, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 3 tablespoons of fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of water, 1 tablespoon of chili sauce, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
Stir well to combine the ingredients perfectly, and adjust the seasoning to suit your family’s taste.
-
Final product
Crispy sardines are delicious, crunchy, and very appealing. When enjoying, you will feel the characteristic sweetness of the fish meat, crunchy on the outside, delicious without being greasy.
You can dip the fish in the sweet and sour sauce to make the fried fish even more flavorful and rich!
See more:
With the detailed instructions above, you will definitely succeed in making the incredibly attractive and delicious crispy fried sardines with a tasty sweet and sour dipping sauce. Be quick to save the recipe and share it right away!
