Frying Fish

[Mitch f]

Was thinking tonight of different types of breading for frying fish. I know everyone has their own favorite recipes for frying fish and wanted to know what your favorites are.

A guy once told me for stripers and whites to cut all the brown meat out, (which I already knew) then soak the fillets in regular French's mustard, then dip them in your favorite breading before frying. He claimed it will be the best I ever had. Had another guy tell me to grind up chinese chow mein noodles to a fine powder then dip the fillets in before frying. He also said you'll never find anything better!

Just curious what your recipes are...

[Feathers and Fins]

Best for me starts with toasting bread. Then make it into crumbs and place it in a ziplock bag. Then Ill add any number of McCormicks seasonings to the bag about 1/2 a bottle to the mix. Dip the fish in a Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Egg and Milk, then place them in the bag and shake. Pull them back out and re-dip then back in the bag... After that place fry them up no more than 3 minutes, I honestly beleive people over cook fish.

[Justin Spencer]

, I honestly beleive people over cook fish.

People overcook everything! You are missing out on the good things in life if you don't like things with a little moisture left in them. Don't dry out your fish, and by golly if it takes eating it in the dark don't cook your beef over medium rare. Once you like meat medium rare, you will love duck, lamb, and venison as though it were beef.

Look online for batters that are like Captain D's or others you might like. I did this because my kids got it in their mind that they liked Captain D's fish, did it with white bass and it was great. Most ways of frying fish is good, try adding cinnamon to your breading, something I really enjoy.

[hank franklin]

Good thread. I like to keep it simple. Hot oil, Andy's breading, and filet o spotted bass. Wet the fillets, drop in Andy's in a bag, shake and drop in oil. Fry till they float. Key ingredient: Hot sauce! Just a little. This is almost always on a gravel bar, which is part of why we go simple.

If at home, put on white bread. Learned this from a friend in rural Ohio. Fried catfish with a squirt of hot sauce on white bread. Soul food, he called it.

Andy's is not my favorite breading by the way. A while back my grocery store carried "hillbilly breading" or something similar. Made in the Ozarks. Anybody hear of it? They stopped carrying it and the store owner said he wasn't sure where it come from.

[hank franklin]

I agree, don't overcook. But I also think with bass you can undercook too. If undercooked the fish doesn't "set up" so to speak. BUt don't overcook, hate it when the edges get chewy.

Another little simple thing: Cheap 39 cent breakfast biscuits fried in oil. Drop 'em in, they balloon right up. Basically a fried donut. Don't overcook, they'll burn.

[LittleRedFisherman]

I've cooked many a fish fry, one of my favorite things to do. Love cooking flathead and having a big fish fry out in the shop in the late winter. Seems the word travels when you have a fry, had 60 show up last time I had one. I've tried different things, but the best thing is don't burn your oil , and peanut oil if you can stand the price, and if nobody's allergic. Over the years, I just simply use white cornmeal, but I put the salt in the cornmeal, just keep adding until it tastes right. Sometimes, I add some Creole seasoning to the meal to give some extra flavor. I don't dry my fish, but I don't want it dripping wet either, so that the batter goes on properly.

Another thing I went to, is instead of buying fries, I wedge up some potatoes, and roll in my cornmeal, but I use a liberal amount of Tony's Creole seasoning, much better than fries IMO.

[Al Agnew]

There are lots of good breadings out there, but if you love the taste of fish as much as I do, you want to keep it simple. I always use yellow cornmeal, liberally add salt and pepper to the cornmeal, put it all in a paper bag. Dip the fish fillets in a beaten egg thinned with milk, drop in the bag and shake. Fry in a deep fryer, and as others have said, don't overcook. When you can lift a fillet out by one end and it breaks in two because the meat is flaky, it's done.

But that's for bass, crappie, sunfish, and walleye. For fish that don't have as good taste to begin with, the mustard idea works well. In fact, yellow mustard is terrific for lots of fried stuff. Try venison strips dipped in yellow mustard, then dropped in a bag full of salted and peppered flour, and fried.

[rps]

I prefer pan fried to deep fat fried and I use a method suited for that.

I liberally season the fish with salt, pepper, and Old Bay. Next I shake the fillets in flour and then shake off the excess. I then dip the fillet in egg beaten with a little water. Shake off excess moisture. Last I roll the fillet in panko bread crumbs.

The spices under the flour stay on, the flour serves to bind a small amount of egg, and the egg holds the bread crumbs.

The end result is a light breading, but it keeps the fish moist.

[Chief Grey Bear]

I honestly beleive people over cook fish.

People overcook everything! You are missing out on the good things in life if you don't like things with a little moisture left in them.

That is very key advice right there. And Justin you couldn't have said it any better!! When I grill steaks, my wife wants her's devoid of any moisture and that is of course the flavor. She then rehydrates it in Ranch Dressing. I quit buying her the good steaks and now she gets Top Sirloin at best! But the kids and I still dine on the likes of Ribeye and T-bones!

As for the fish batter as everyone is saying, there are a lot of good ones out there. One that I really like to make is Cornmeal, flour, paprika, salt and pepper. The paprika really gives a great flavor. I think it was the Harold Ensly brand that came in a white flour like sack/bag with green writing??? If you ever liked that, this tastes the same. Only I don't think it had cornmeal in it. I think it was just flour.

[Mitch f]

So many great ideas, thanks!

I'm also looking to purchase a deep fryer from Emeril Lagasse with a device that filters your oil after your fish fry. I've always wanted a deep fryer but didn't buy one because I was always afraid of using it too much! Not good for the ticker ya know. Moderation is the key. The peanut oil and the panko crumbs sound pretty cool and believe it or not have never used straight corn meal before. I also think I don't pepper the crumbs as much as I should.

Every week I go to the chinese market to pick up supplies; I've seen at least 20 or so style of hot sauce there...I've tried most and agree that this is the final key ingredient for the fish. That market is unbelieveable, they have grouper heads (gigantic)and other fish heads you can purchase for cutting up and making soup I guess. As many wierd fish as you can find anywhere. They also have live Craws (seasonal), this is where I got the craw to use for making the craw lure. Also, as I have posted before on this forum but they sell largemouth bass legally. On the weekend it is pure chaos in that place, and a smell not soon forgotten!