Cuoppo di mare
Fried seafood cone
Cuoppo di mare: Naples's paper cone of fried small fish, squid and prawns
ItalianWalking through Naples, from the Spanish Quarter to the seafront at Mergellina, you see people eating from a cuoppo, a cone of rough paper filled with fried seafood: tiny whole fish, rings of squid and prawns, dusted in flour and fried hard and fast, eaten hot with a squeeze of lemon. It is the city's version of a fish supper. The small fish are eaten whole, heads and all, but you can buy them cleaned or use whitebait. Chef's tip: shake off every bit of excess flour in a sieve before frying; loose flour burns and makes the oil taste bitter.
- Total time
- 45 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 10 ½ oz small whole fish such as whitebait or picarelcleaned
- 10 ½ oz cleaned squidcut into rings
- 7 oz raw prawnspeeled and deveined, tails left on
- 3 ½ oz plain flouror semolina
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 4 ¼ cups sunflower or peanut oilfor frying
- 1 lemoncut into wedges
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Rinse 10 ½ oz small whole fish such as whitebait or picarel, 10 ½ oz cleaned squid and 7 oz raw prawns and pat them completely dry with kitchen paper.
Step 2: Heat 4 ¼ cups sunflower or peanut oil in a deep pan to 350°F.
8 minStep 3: Toss a handful of seafood in 3 ½ oz plain flour, then shake it in a sieve to remove the excess.
Step 4: Fry in small batches for 2–3 minutes, until crisp and golden and the fish flesh is opaque all through. Prawns should be pink and opaque, squid white. Common mistake: frying too much at once; the oil cools and everything goes soggy.
12 minStep 5: Drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle with 1 tsp fine salt straight away.
Step 6: Pile into paper cones and serve with 1 lemon. Eat at once.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 450 kcal
- Protein
- 32 g
- Carbs
- 28 g
- Fat
- 23 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does cuoppo di mare take?
- About 45 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of lemon?
- Lime, or 2 tbsp bottled lemon juice per lemon (no zest from bottled juice).
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