Whitebait or "Dulong" Fritters Recipe | Small Freshwater Fish Fry Recipe

Whitebait or "Dulong" Fritters Recipe

If you frequent your local wet market as much as my husband does, then I'll bet you know about "Dulong" (our local fish vendors call it that) or whitebait. The word whitebait does not refer to a single species of fish, it is actually a general term used in many countries to describe small freshwater fish that are tender and edible.  Here is the lowdown of our own fritter recipe using whitebait inspired by Market Manila's tortang dulong article, thanks Marketman!

Fortunately, Dulong is available everytime Mr. D goes to the market at the fish stall he always frequents, where he found the rare Tawilis we discussed in one of my earlier articles. So when he got back, we immediately tackled the small freshwater fish by rinsing them gently in salted water to remove dirt and putting them in a strainer to remove excess moisture.

While that's going on, prepare the other ingredients for the batter. Mince a couple of tomatoes, onions, and spring onions, again no measurements (I hate measuring, that's why I leave the baking to Mr. D, it's more of a Science than cooking anyway), just add as much as you want. Mix them with the drained fish fry, add salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste, flour and beaten eggs plus herbs and spices of your choice. We added celery seed, turmeric powder and a bunch of coriander greens.

Heat up your stainless steel pan over the stove on medium high heat. Keep the size of your fritters uniform by using one ladel in scooping your batter. Fry your whitebait fritters for about 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels to remove excess oil. Serve immediately with your choice of vinegar, lemon wedges, or in our case we chose my Pico De Gallo again haha!

Try it! We finished up everything in one sitting!

Cooking at home instead of going out to eat is way healthier and will definitely stretch your peso.  

References:
http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/tortang-dulong-fried-fish-fry-cakes
http://www.marketmanila.com/