Smelts (“shishamo” (ししゃも) in Japanese) are little river fish that are widely sold in the supermarkets all year round. They are cheap, super easy to prepare, delicious, and very good for you because you get to eat all of it, from head to tail! Good source of protein and calcium.
You can cook them any way you like. Sometimes they are deep fried with some breading. But I always like to just simply grill them, which is the most common way of cooking them here in Japan.
If you grill them, they come out crunchy on the outside, especially around their heads. I love their heads! They are amazing, so don’t throw them away. Smelts are rather light because they are not fatty. So they are more suitable as a snack or a starter than as a main dish.
Japanese Grilled Smelts (Shishamo)
Ingredients
- 10 smelts
- 1 tsp olive oil (For spraying over the smelts before grilling)
directions
- Spray some oil over the grill.This is to prevent the fish from sticking to the grill as well as to prevent the fish from over-drying.I'm using a Japanese fish grill, but you can use a grill pan too.
- Lay the fish over the grill and spray oil on the top of the fish.The smelts sold in Japan are already salty, so no seasoning is necessary. But if your smelts are not salty, you can season them now or after cooking.
- Cook the fish in/on the grill for about 7 minutes until their skin turn a bit crispy and golden brown.My grill emits gas flames from the top and the bottom so I don't need to turn them over. But if you are cooking on a grill pan, turn them over at some point to cook them on each side.Enjoy!
Nutrition
Hi! I’m a Japanese woman who lives in Tokyo. My passion is cooking and eating food. Read more about me at https://sakurayubi.com/about/
