Crispy, delicious, deep fried Smelts!

Crispy, delicious, deep fried smelts! A small fish which has a particular, cucumber like smell (the smell weakens strongly during the cooking). Served with crispy potatoes and fresh peas, corn and broccoli. Pepper ketchup, Tabasco and mayonnaise are served as dips. Yum!

In every spring, around the time when lakes are released from the ice, smelts gathers together and they start to swim up to rapids for reproduction. Sometimes it feels like there is more fish in water than the water itself 😀 All you need to do to catch them is to use a net with a long shaft. Nets used for catching smelts are called Lippo in Finland and usually the actual net is connected to the shaft with thin ropes. After the net is threw to upstream, it is pulled towards the downstream fast enough. Fish swimming upwards cannot escape once they’re inside the bag like net. Then the net is pulled from the water and fish are gathered for the instant cooking or for freezing them for later use.

A downriver found in Nokia - the place where your cell phone has possibly had its name.

A downriver found in Nokia – the place where your cell phone has possibly had its name 😀

Me with a shaft of Lippo in my hand.

Me with a shaft of Lippo in my hand.

This is how smelts are dipped from the rapid. After the net is threw, it is pulled along the stream. Smelts swimming upwards meet a dead end and they are captured by this "bag".

Gotta catch ’em all! This is how smelts are dipped from the rapid. After the net is threw, it is pulled along the stream. Smelts swimming upwards meet a dead end and they are captured by this big “bag”.

A catch from the previous spring. Smelts packed in plastic bags and ready for freezing.

A catch from the previous spring. Smelts packed in plastic bags are ready for freezing.

By deep frying it is possible to cook water out of the smelts so that they become super crispy sticks. I don’t clean my smelts, just quickly rinse them with water before the cooking or putting them into a freezer (there isn’t much to clean, because smelts are so tiny). Before deep frying I season smelts with lemon pepper (which already includes salt) and then cover them with bread crumbs. Finally, I cook them in a deep fryer about 12 minutes with the full power. After that, bon appetit!

Smelts going into deep fryer.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *