To Fry Eels

Modern cookery for private families · Acton, Eliza · 1845

Source: Modern cookery for private families
Status: success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe: No

Ingredients (11)

fine salt ↝ Salt, table, iodized [Spices and Herbs]
white pepper, or cayenne ↝ Spices, pepper, white [Spices and Herbs]
flour ↝ Flour, 00 [Cereal Grains and Pasta]
boiling lard ↝ Lard [Fats and Oils]
plain melted butter ↝ Butter, stick, unsalted [Dairy and Egg Products]
anchovy sauce
batter ↝ Cookie, batter or dough, raw [Cookies and brownies]
egg ↝ Eggs, Grade A, Large, egg whole [Dairy and Egg Products]
fine bread-crumbs ↝ Bread, crumbs, dry, grated, seasoned [Baked Products]
minced parsley ↝ Parsley, raw [Not included in a food category]
crisped parsley ↝ Parsley, raw [Not included in a food category]

Instructions (13)

Kill the eels.
Skin, empty, and wash them as clean as possible.
Cut them into four-inch lengths.
Dry them well in a soft cloth.
Season them with fine salt and white pepper or cayenne.
Flour them thickly.
Fry them a fine brown in boiling lard.
Drain and dry them as directed for soles.
Send them to table with plain melted butter or anchovy sauce.
Alternatively, dip eels into batter and then fry.
Or dip into egg and fine bread-crumbs (mixed with minced parsley or not, at pleasure), and serve with plenty of crisped parsley round and on them.
For these modes of dressing, it is an improvement to open the eels entirely and remove the bones.
The smaller parts should be thrown into the pan a minute or two later than the thicker portions of the bodies to ensure even cooking.

Original Text

TO FRY EELS.

[In season all the year, but not so well-conditioned in April and May as in other months.]

First kill, then skin, empty, and wash them as clean as possible; cut them into four-inch lengths, and dry them well in a soft cloth. Season them with fine salt, and white pepper, or cayenne, flour them thickly, and fry them a fine brown in boiling lard; drain and dry them as directed for soles, and send them to table with plain melted butter or anchovy sauce. Eels are sometimes dipped into batter and then fried; or into egg and fine bread-crumbs (mixed with minced parsley or not, at pleasure), and served with plenty of crisped parsley round, and on them.

It is an improvement for these modes of dressing the fish to open them entirely; and remove the bones: the smaller parts should be thrown into the pan a minute or two later than the thicker portions of the bodies or they will not be equally done.

Notes

—