It hasn't been economical for me to buy New Zealand whitebait recently. I saw a sign recently for 100gm whitebait for $20 - don't think so.
But I have discovered the imported whitebait (from Indonesia) in the frozen fish section of our grocery store. I know it's imported and from an Asian country, but I spent an extended amount of time in Indonesia once and ate lots of fish and it was delicious. So I have no worries over eating fish from there.
Do you know it only cost $5.65 for 250gms. That's cheaper than chicken, beef, pork and whatever other meat you like to eat. I bought two packs for us - 6 mouths to feed - and a popular meal means there won't be any left.
Here is the perfect recipe for whitebait fritters:
Best Whitebait Fritters
2 egg whites, beaten to soft peaks
½ tsp salt (I add slightly less as whitebait can be salty anyway).
1 heaped tsp flour
250gms fresh whitebait
1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp butter to cook
Whisk egg whites to form peaks. Add salt, flour and whitebait and gently fold to combine evenly.
Heat the oil and butter and cook heaped dessert spoonfuls of the mixture over medium heat until golden and puffy, adding extra oil and butter to pan between batches as needed.
Serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon.
And you know what - there was not one fritter leftover.
When I was 18 I went and visited friends in the South Island. They took me 'fishing' for whitebait. Have you ever done that? It is a slow process, perhaps that's why it is so expensive. We didn't catch many, but the small amount that we did, made very yummy fritters:)
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