Good things come in small packages, like Butterfish. I ate these a lot as a kid. My mom would deep fry them and serve them with sweet and sour sauce. It’s been years though since I’ve eaten Butterfish and I had forgotten them till I saw these cute fishes in the Chinese market on Thursday.
I drizzled a bit of olive oil on them, sprinkled some kosher salt, and threw them on the grill for about 2 minutes on each side. They were delicious and became permanently implanted in our memory. We must have these again!
The one down side is that there are little bones to watch for, so not ideal for small children, but wow are there lots of upsides:
- These little fish pack in a lot of flavor. We were both amazed by how concentrated the flavor was in the tender and compact meat, definitely a taste winner.
- Quick and easy to make. Since these fish are cleaned at the fish market, they only take a few minutes to make and taste great with the simplest preparations.
- Butterfish are super cheap. If I remember correctly, I paid $1.23 for 4 of them. With rising food costs, I think I’ll have these more often.
- As little fish, they contain much less mercury than those big ones like tuna.
My mom used to make this as well. I can almost smell how the strong aromas of this fish fills up the kitchen. It brings back good memories.