Deep-Fried and Marinated Small Fish

Name: Deep-Fried and Marinated Small Fish (Kozakana Nanban-Zuke)
Yield: Serves four
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 30 ml/2 tbsp sake; 15 ml/1 tbsp mirin; vegetable oil, for deep-frying; 4 cm/1½ in piece fresh root ginger, peeled; 1 dried red chilli; 60 ml/4 tbsp shoyu; 75 ml/5 tbsp rice vinegar; 1 small carrot; plain (all-purpose) flour, for dusting; 2 spring onions (scallions); ⅓ cucumber; 450 g/1 lb sprats (US small whitebait)

Kozakana Nanban-Zuke

Preparation info

Serves
four

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Japanese Cookbook

By Emi Kazuko and Yasuko Fukuoka

Published 2024

About

The influence of early Europeans, or Nanban, who first brought deep-frying to Japan a few hundred years ago, is still evident in this dish, known as Kozakana Nanban-Zuke.

Ingredients

450 g/1 lb sprats (US small whitebait)
plain (all-purpose) flour, for dusting

Asia
Japan
Fish course
Pescatarian

Method

Wipe the sprats dry with kitchen paper, then put them in a small plastic bag with a handful of flour. Seal and shake vigorously to coat the fish.
Cut the carrot and cucumber into thin strips by hand or using a mandolin or food processor. Cut the spring onions into three, then slice into thin, lengthways strips. Slice the ginger into thin, lengthways strips and