Everyone knows that consuming fish is so important for our health. We are trying to cook fish once a week. Altough Eskisehir is not a coastal city, we have a large fish market here. There are a lot of kinds of fish here coming from different seas of Turkey, which is surrounded with sea on three sides. I love shopping in this market as everything is so fresh here. Besides fishes, there are also fresh vegetable and fruit, so while the fisherman is cleaning your fish, you can do shopping from the vegetable and fruit vendors. If you think that you won’t buy anything from here because you have everything at home, you are completely wrong. You can’t help buying from these fresh fruit and vegetables as you can’t take your eyes from these shiny colors. You can see a photo from our fish market below.
On every Saturday, fishermen bring fish from Turkey seas, so we generally prefer going to fish market on that day to have the freshest fish. Among the fishes there, anchovy is my favorite because it has a strong taste and its bones are so thin that it’s not problem even if there are some bones left. In fact, removing its bones is so easy that it’s impossible to miss any bones. Anchovy fish originally lives in Black Sea, but it also lives in Marmara Sea. I prefer Black Sea anchovy as it is more delicious. You can see how anchovies are exhibited in this market.
Last Saturday was our fish day and we went to fish market and we cooked anchovy in oven. Here is the recipe:
Firinda Hamsi
Ingredients
• 1kg anchovy
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lemon
• Red pepper flakes
• Salt
• A few bay leaves
When you buy fish from this fish market, they clean it for you, fishermen (you see one of them above) remove bones. So when you take them home, just washing is enough.
Oil the oven tray and place the anchovies on it. Since they are so small you can put one on another (their interior parts should stick to each other).
Preheat the oven to 180C (350F)
In a small bowl, put olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper flakes, mix them. Then spread this mixture on anchovies with a brush. Finally put a few bay leaves. Place the tray into oven and cook it 40 minutes untill all the water’s gone.
You can serve these scrumptious anchovies with onion and lemon.
13 Comments on "Anchovy in Oven"
Hi Zerin is this sardine..heart healthy fish, looks like that…?i just posted Guacamoli Dip seeing ur comments…check it out, its so simple….
Nice! I bet they were gone pretty quickly
Vrinda- it’s smaller than sardine and it has a stronger taste. It’s called “Hamsi” in Turkish.
Natasha – Just in 10 minutes!
These look yummy. I live in the mountains and I have to drive an hour for fresh fish. Plus the only anchovies I can get around here are the kind in the can!
Sorry for you, but I’m sure you have some other advantages of living in the mountains.
Oh my lord, I would SO love to shop here! I ♥ fish like you wouldn’t believe as my father was a local fisherman (in Hawaii where I grew up). There is absolutely nothing better than freshly caught fish baked, steamed, fried or put into a soup for dinner! Great post!!!!!!
Hi Zerrin,
Great post and pictures! I love anchovies (Hamsi) and I was excited to find an article about fresh anchovies and not canned ones.
If you’d like to try another way to eat fresh anchovies please check my post at: http://secrethedonist.wordpress.com/
rowena – Thnak you for stopping by. Right, fresh fish can always be eaten at any course at any dishes.
Secret Hedonist – We are lucky enough to find fresh anchovies where we live. We don’t have canned ones here. I’m really interested in anchovies, so I’ll definitely visit your blog.
The anchovies look really delicious! I wish we have a fish market here too!
oh this could be the perfect meal. i just wish it was easier for us to get fresh anchovy here in the nyc. it’s just too darn difficult.
Just bought some fresh anchovies in Cambridge, Massachusetts at The New Deal Fish Market..
Well try this recipe
What a wonderful fish market!
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