Spanish chefs agree: "Fried fish is not made with breadcrumbs, but with wheat flour, chickpea flour, and a special frying flour"

Fried fish is one of those dishes that form part of the landscape in Andalusia. It can be found in the freidurías of Cádiz, at the beach bars of Málaga and on the home dinner table.

In many home kitchens, the custom remains the same: egg and breadcrumbs to achieve a golden coating. The result is usually a thick batter that weighs heavy on the plate and ends up masking the flavour of the fish.

Andalusian cooks who make their living from this tell a different story. They agree that the mistake in almost all home frying starts before the heat is turned on, in the choice of an ingredient that almost nobody pays close attention to.

And they are not talking about the oil or the temperature, the two usual suspects. The starting point, they say, lies in the flour. But not just any flour.

The mixture used in the freidurías

Ángel León, a Cádiz-born chef with several Michelin stars and known as "the chef of the sea" for his restaurant Aponiente in Cádiz, maintains that the most common mistake is coating with a single flour or resorting to heavy layers. His proposal is a mixture of three flours in equal parts: finely milled wheat flour, chickpea flour, which is responsible for a lighter texture, and special frying flour, which in Andalusia is usually sold ready-made.

With this combination, the coating comes out thin, protects the piece without masking its flavour and leaves the fish crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. León also insists on a step that many people get wrong: the fish should not be rinsed under the tap. "Don't put fresh water on it, for goodness' sake. It stops tasting of the sea," he warns.

Miguel Ángel Cádiz, a Sevillian cook who runs the YouTube channel "Carnes y brasas," arrives at the same point from a different angle. For him, "the great enemy of a good fry is water." He therefore recommends drying each piece very thoroughly with kitchen paper before flouring and frying. The logic is simple: the less moisture the fish carries, the thinner the coating that wraps around it.

Andalusian fried fish recipe

With those tips as a foundation, this is how it is prepared in Andalusian freidurías to achieve a light, crispy fry.

Ingredients (serves 4):

- 100 g very finely milled wheat flour

- 100 g chickpea flour

- 100 g frying flour

- Fresh fish (anchovies, small soles, whiting or dogfish)

- Extra virgin olive oil, enough to submerge the pieces

- Salt, to taste

Method:

1. Use very fresh fish and do not rinse it under the tap, as fresh water makes it damp and ruins the coating.

2. Dry it very thoroughly with kitchen paper.

3. Mix the three flours in equal parts.

4. Coat the fish in the flour and shake off the excess to leave an extremely thin layer.

5. Heat a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil to between 180 and 190 degrees.

6. Fry in small batches so the oil does not drop in temperature.

7. Drain on a wire rack, not on paper (on paper the oil is reabsorbed and softens the fry).

8. Season at the end and serve immediately.

What to bear in mind before frying

Very hot oil. At between 180 and 190 degrees, oil splashes and can cause burns. It is advisable to use a deep pan and monitor the cooking carefully.

Gluten. Wheat flour contains gluten. If a gluten-free version is required, it can be replaced with a mixture of cornstarch, rice flour and chickpea flour.

Overheated oil. If it smokes, it has exceeded its smoke point and should be replaced: reusing it produces bitter flavours.

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