Many people, when talking about fish, consider the sardine as “the Cinderella of the seas”. However, this “humble little fish” brings it to them, as it belongs to the blue fish family. Blue fish is very beneficial for the body, as it provides large amounts of omega 3. This unsaturated fatty acid cares for the cardiovascular system, as well as helping to lower high cholesterol levels. The most popular blue fish is salmon, whose meat is irresistible and very healthy. It is advisable to consume this family of fish often; however, some can be very expensive and inaccessible to many, except for sardines.
The sardine becomes an alternative for a healthy diet, as it is very cheap and… Very easy to prepare! Because we always think of healthy and tasty alternatives for you, we will prepare: sardines in lemon batter, very crunchy! In addition, it is a recipe prepared in the Venezuelan style, do not miss it!
Ingredients to make lemon battered sardines:
- 12 fresh sardines
- 2 lemons
- 1 cup of ground cassava
- 1 jet of vegetable or olive oil for frying
- 1 pinch of salt (optional)
- 1 pinch of Pepper (optional)
How to make lemon battered sardines:
Organize your workspace to prepare the lemon battered sardines. Cover the table with an easy-to-clean plastic, or clean sardines over the sink. Then, crush the cassava. You can use the mortar or crush it inside a bag. The rest of the ingredients, place them in containers after measuring them.
To clean the sardines you must follow several steps:
- Wear latex or plastic gloves. Cover up with an apron or disposable clothing. Even better if you cover your head with a plastic cap (bathing cap).
- Use a knife to remove the scales. Do it holding the tail, from there up.
- Clean the sardines with water, just enough to remove the scales.
- Cut the head of the fish from its gills.
- At the bottom of the sardine, make a deep vertical cut. Do it from where the head was to the tail. Remove the viscera.
Tip: There are many techniques to clean sardines, some more efficient than others. However, you choose the one you prefer.
After the previous steps, carry out the following to continue cleaning the fish:
- Once the fish is open, remove the skeleton. Keep the tail, as it is decorative.
- Cut the edges, thus removing parts of the spines. Shape it into a curve following the body of the sardine.
- Remove any remaining spines using tweezers. An eyebrow tweezer, purchased especially for this activity, can help.
- Squeeze the lemon and spread it over all the sardines, one by one. Then reserve. The lemon cooks the sardines raw, also preserves them for longer. Ceviche is processed similarly.
- Season with salt. Optional, you can use pepper, although this time I only used lemon and salt. Much better if you use sea salt.
Tip: You can clean the sardines the night before.
Pass the sardine through the cassava flour and coat it on both sides. Remember that this is a recipe for Venezuelan-style lemon battered sardines, so if you don’t have this type of flour, you can use any other.
Pour oil into a pan or frying pan. Wait for it to heat up well, place the breaded sardines and wait for them to brown well on each side. They must be crunchy!
Exquisite! You can accompany these lemon battered sardines with a cassava puree and an avocado salad, for example. Above the fish, rest the sweet chili pepper jam. Venezuelan sardines!
I invite you to try these flavors that evoke the Caribbean coast. Landscapes full of fishermen and a green sea. Very tropical!
simple dish is… indescribable!
