How to Air Fry Whitebait

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These simple instructions for How to Air Fry Whitebait will give you crunchy and crispy fry fish with all the joy of deep frying and none of the fuss. With just a dusting of flour but no breadcrumbs or batter, they simply need a squeeze of lemon to serve.

4.67 from 3 votes

Prep Time: 4

Cook Time: 10

Second Batch: 10

Total Time: 24

Servings starters

Author Chloe

Equipment

Ingredients

250 g Whitebait (Fry Fish) - fresh or frozen
1 tbsp Plain Flour (All Purpose)
½ tsp Paprika
1 tsp Garlic Salt
Vegetable Spray Oil

Instructions

If your air fryer requires pre-heating, Start this setting now.
Put 250g Whitebait into a bowl. If you are using frozen, just make sure to brush off any large pieces of ice.
Sprinkle 1 tbsp Flour, ½ tsp Paprika and 1 tsp Garlic Salt over the fish.
Toss to fully coat the fish in the flour and seasoning.
Use tongs to place half of the fish into the air fryer basket. Leave a little space between each fish so the air can circulate.
Note: If you have a larger air fryer where you can fit all the fish in in one single layer batch, go for it!
Liberally spray the whitebait with oil. And I do mean liberally, don't be shy. You can brush on oil if you don't have a spray but be gentle as you don't want to brush off the flour and seasoning.
Turn the fish and repeat with the oil on the other side.
Air fry for 10 minutes at 200c/390f. There is no need to turn the fish.
Check the fish and see if it as crisp as you like. 10 minutes should give you a good crunch with a little softness. If you prefer even crispier, just keep cooking until you are happy.
Remove the fish from the air fryer and set aside. Repeat with the second batch.
Add the first batch of cooked fish to the air fryer for the last minute or so of cooking the second batch. It won't matter at this point if they are more crowded in the pan.
This will mean that all of your whitebait are hot and ready to go at the same time.

Notes

Serving Size - I've allowed 125g whitebait per portion. This is roughly what I would expect to be served if I was ordering a starter portion in a pub. You can double the quantity for a main course or reduce it if you are serving the whitebait as part of a platter.
Salt/Seasoning - You can use any seasoning mix or sauce instead of paprika/garlic salt but make sure that salt is included in the mix.
The air fryer version of this recipe is tested in a Cosori Lite (‎CAF-LI401S) with a 3.8 litre capacity. The square(ish) shaped basket is 21cm x 21cm and 24cm on the diagonal.
Not all models advise preheating is required. Please follow the recommended instructions for your model. Mine has a specific preheat setting which is 4 minutes at 205c.
For this recipe, I can easily fit 125g Whitebait in the basket at a time. This gives plenty of room to allow air to circulate - It is best to work in batches like I have done rather than trying to cram too many fish in.
As all air fryer models are a little different, you may find that you can fit more or less in at a time. Some models include stacking shelves which will increase capacity.
Required cooking times and temperatures can also vary between models and brands. If you know that your air fryer runs a little hotter than most recipes suggest, use a lower temperature. And vice versa. Equally if you find that food cooks more quickly in your machine than instructions usually state, reduce the cooking time (or check it earlier) and vice versa.

Nutrition (Approx)