Fresh Sardines page

[paul119]

Hi all,

I'm living in Turkey at the moment and have access to fresh sardines right from the sea (great deal at less than $2.50 per pound). Anyone have any great recipes for fresh sardines? I just made some by pan-frying the sardines in olive oil with onions and a little salt, but the taste was meh. I'd like to hear of some great recipes so that I can really enjoy the experience of eating fresh sardines. Thanks!

[Credodisi]

I was perusing recipes last night for things to make with fresh sardines and ran across this one that I think looks good (but I haven't yet tried it). Can you get fennel in Turkey?

Grilled Fresh Sardines with Fennel and Preserved Lemon Recipe at Epicurious.com

[msojka]

I have made the Epicurious recipe posted by Credodisi several times. It transported me to some exotic location. Incredible! I had made my own preserved lemons but you should be able to get them in Turkey and not have to wait a month for your lemons to pickle in the salt. Here is the review I posted on Epicurious about three years ago.....
Out of necessity I made substantial changes to the recipe. The result was a blend of flavors and textures that transported me seemingly half-way around the world. First, I used large 1/2 pound frozen sardines. I fried them using the spices listed. However, not having fresh dill, I just sprinkled a little dried over the fish. For the fennel, I didn't have fennel and just used onion and celery. Even so, the preserved lemons and all the flavors created a very exotic dish that was quick to prepare and eat for lunch.

[Gary Conway]

Wow that looks a good recipe. I usually just do sliced lemon + some sea salt so looking forward to trying that

[adameads]

i love sardines. i put them on a paper plate, squeeze a little yellow mustard and himalayan pink salt on them, and eat them with a fork.

[seaweed]

when you said the taste was meh, do you mean bland or not that pleasant? fish fresh off the boat, within 12 hours of being caught, i always just fry in butter. put some salt and pepper on it and eat it. sometimes we do the squeeze of lemon, or a few herbs, or some herb salt. but the general idea is not to mask the flavour at all. sardines i have never had fresh but i think they are similar to mullet. i have a friend who has put mullet in sushi. we smoke it sometimes. there are stacks of good recipes here
BBC - Food - Recipe finder : sardine which i look thru when we have mullet. they arent all primal but you get the drift.