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1
Put the sardines in ice water until you're ready to open them up.
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2
By chilling them, the fat in the guts will solidify, and the fish will be easier to cut and open.
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3
In addition, sardines are so tender that they fall apart under their own weigh, and the liquid that is produced is what gives them their distinctive fishy smell.
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4
Cut off the head and remove the innards.
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5
You don't have to remove everything with your knife--just remove as much as you can.
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6
Sardines don't have scales.
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7
Sardines shed their scales when they are surprised.
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8
When they're caught in a fishing net, they get surprised and their scales drop off.
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9
You do occasionally run into one that hasn't lost its scales, though.
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10
Run the fingernail of your thumb along the backbone, and open up the fish towards the tail with your fingers.
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11
The fish will form a V shape at this point.
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12
You don't have to force it flat.
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13
Break the backbone off near the tail.
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14
Alternatively, you can cut the bone with kitchen scissors and rip it off.
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15
Once this bone is removed, the V-shaped fish will become nice and flat.
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16
You could also remove the bone from the head end.
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17
Use whichever method works best for you; either way, work slowly without rushing it.
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18
Remove any black bits left by the innards and any small bones, and you're done.
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19
The butterflied sardine is clean even if you don't rinse it in water.
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20
Freeze the removed fish guts until it's time to take out the trash, so they won't smell up your kitchen.
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21
After butterflying the sardines, put some salt in ice water so that it's about as salty as sea water, and quickly rinse the sardines in it.
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22
Place them on paper towels to drain off any excess moisture.
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23
I put some umeboshi plum paste and a shiso leaf on each sardine, but you can just salt and pepper them or season them with yuzu pepper or curry powder.
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24
Whatever you prefer.
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25
Coat them with bread flour.
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26
It makes tempura batter or breading stick better: however, If you don't have any, cake flour is fine.
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27
After coating the fish in flour, they are typically dredged in egg, but I used tempura flour (which has egg in it) instead.
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28
You can use only as much as you need so it's economical.
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29
Mix the tempura flour with water, and add the mayonnaise, too.
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30
The mayonnaise is a substitute for egg and oil.
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31
If you add a little oil to the coating of deep fried foods, they fry to a nice crisp.
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32
Coat with panko.
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33
Line a shallow tray or similar with panko.
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34
Place the breaded sardines on top, and cover with more panko.
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35
I do this for croquettes too, or any breaded deep fried food.
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36
Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour before frying.
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37
Chilling the breaded sardines in the refrigerator will settle the coating and they'll fry up very nicely.
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38
Deep fry in 170 to 180 C oil.
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39
When the moisture evaporates and the fish float to the surface, they are done.
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40
Watch out for this, as well as the color of the breading.
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41
Thoroughly drain off the excess oil.
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42
Don't lay the freshly fried sardines flat--stand them up on end instead.
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43
When the oil has completely drained off, serve and enjoy!
