Before I left the docks, I paid Ernie for a few pounds of butterfish. At home my husband showed me how to clean them: cut diagonally from the back of the head toward the belly, slanting back, toward the tail. This takes off the head and opens the body cavity, then you swipe the cavity out with your fingers and rinse out the guts. The bones and the tail stay in—the bones pull out easily with one clean tug once the fish is cooked, and the crispy tail is, in my opinion, the very best part.
Ingredients
SERVINGS: 4
- 2/3 cup cornmeal
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- salt and pepper to taste
- butter
- olive oil
- 12 butterfish, gutted and cleaned
Instructions
Toss together the cornmeal, flour, and salt and pepper in a shallow pan big enough to hold a single fish. Heat up equal parts of butter and olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet. Wait until the pan and the fats are very hot, then coat the fish with the cornmeal mixture and put the fish in the skillet. Cook for roughly 2 minutes, or until it turns a crispy golden brown. Flip the fish and cook another 30 seconds on the second side. Eat at once.
