Flouring whitebait should be managed in this way :—Spread a clean cloth on the table; dredge flour over its surface an eighth of an inch deep, take the whitebait out of the iced water in whieh they are sent with a draining slice, and with a fork detach them one from another all over the floured cloth. Do not finger them if you can avoidit. Toss the flour over them by shaking the ends of the cloth. Let them lie so that the flour may adhere, then turn them out upon a wire sieve and shake off the superfluous flour.
Between each relay slightly reduce the heat to receive the new batch, increasing it in the same way as in the first instance. If at all flabby, owing to the fat having been not hot enough, they may be plunged when cold again into very hot fat for a minute when they will be crisp.