Mixed fried seafood — or fritto misto di mare — can be found throughout Italy; however, the most iconic and evocative incarnation hails from Campania. Indeed, it’s easy to imagine sitting in a Neapolitan trattoria eating crisp, piping hot tidbits of fried seafood while looking out on the Bay of Naples.
Red mullet, squid or cuttlefish and shrimp are some common choices you might find in classic versions. The seafood is lightly dusted with flour before frying, and it must be eaten right from the pot to be crispy.
In a home kitchen, we knew we would need to fry our seafood in batches to prevent the oil temperature from dropping excessively. Adding cornstarch to the mix kept our first batch crispy while we fried the second. (Unlike flour, cornstarch is a pure starch whose molecules lock into place during the frying process to form a dry, brittle coating.)
For the fish, easy-to-find, mild-tasting sole or flounder fillets were thin enough to cook through in the time it took the coating to adequately brown. The shrimp are fried and eaten shell and all, as the shell fries up crisp. We found that by cutting through the shells, we could achieve even more delicate results because moisture could quickly escape.
To ensure that the shells fry up crisp, avoid using shrimp that are overly large or jumbo. We prefer 31- to 40-count shrimp here, but 26- to 30-count may be substituted. Use a Dutch oven that holds 6 quarts or more. Trim any squid tentacles longer than 3 inches.
FRIED SEAFOOD
Servings: 6
Start to finish: 45 minutes
12 ounces shell-on medium-large shrimp (31 to 40 per pound)
3 quarts vegetable oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
Salt
12 ounces squid, bodies sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rings, tentacles left whole
12 ounces skinless sole or flounder fillets, 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, halved lengthwise, and cut on bias into 1-inch strips
Lemon wedges
Nutrition information per serving: 345 calories; 182 calories from fat; 21 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 225 mg cholesterol; 569 mg sodium; 15 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 0 g sugar; 24 g protein.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.