SWF Pontoon Angler

We ate a lot of fish because dad HAD to fish every day no matter what. There could be a funeral or picnic, or birthday or whatever but he HAD to fish at least maybe an hour to support his habit. Anyway, we never ate any fish that wasn't deep fried and it was really good like steak to us, and I'm talking up north in Illinois so Catfish, Bass. Walleye, Crappie, Blue Gills, Perch, etc. My past 20 years in Florida I changed my life and went to grilled, boiled, broiled, baked fish almost exclusively. However, just for the heck of it the other night I deep fried some fillets in pure lard with a breading of one cup of Bisquick, one egg, and a half cup of beer. Oh my gosh......it was so good with a tempura type of crust, light and crunchy. Going to get back to basics from my childhood more often I think.

How about you.....how do you do your fillets, breading recipes, oil or fat, bake, grill, etc? I don't know about you but I really respect the catch and release guys and do it when I get enough for my dinner first. I would not even fish at all if I couldn't eat them. Never hunted and killed any game either unless I ate it. Would never have killed a deer and gave all the meat away, just would have not hunted.

Never too old to learn better ways....how do you cook your fish?

schoolsout1

Don't fry much anymore (will be frying a bunch of snapper at neighbors Friday, though). I don't like batter dipped fish...I just use House Autry and add a little spice and put moist filets in ziplock with breader and shake to coat then drop into peanut oil (hard to find real lard/fat these days).

cdrhoek

We would bring home fresh Bass or Crappie from the lake on my Grandfather's ranch. Dredge in corn meal and pan fry in Crisco.

SWF Pontoon Angler

Walmart has all the lard you want.

jgatorman

The Zatteran's wonderful fish fry mix is excellent for dusting and frying. Lightest i have found so far. Never did a lot of fried fish until this discovery for I do not care for heavy breading or batter, i want to taste the fish. Zatteran's is the frame, the fish is the painting and a masterpiece at that if done correctly!

bobeast

And that's just the greeters.

FisherforHim

Fillets dipped and soaked in a bowl of buttermilk and eggs. Shake the egg wash off so not dripping wet. Drop filets in a ziplock of zatarans or house of autry crispy fish fry batter cut with about 1/2 flour, and shake until coated but not clumped with batter. Deep fry in pure lard. Crispy fried fish perfection.

wahoo yahoo

This is what we do all the time. You will need three(3) bowls, 1 with flour, 1 with beaten egg and 1 with Panko breadcrumbs.

1. Dredge the fish in AP flour (add a little Old Bay or your favorite seasoning if you like),
2. Shake off flour and then coat fish in the beaten egg.
3. Now put fish in a bowl with some Panko Bread crumbs and bread( we add a little sea salt to the Panko)

Now deep fry it up and you'll be all set. It gives the fish a really nice light crispy coating. We have also done the above and put the fish in the air fryer oven ( a little more health conscious) with good results, just spray the fish with a little shot of Canola cooking spray before you put it in

wstanford277

We roll the filets corn meal (no egg or milk) and cook in peanut oil. Corn or vegetable oil leaves a bad feeling in my stomach. Canola doesn’t taste as good. I don’t know a temperature, I drop in a small piece to gauge if it right and use color on the filets once I start cooking. Key is to salt the fish as soon as the cone out of the pot.

Ironworker

try marinating your fish fillets in some hot sauce like Franks. Just dump in a 1/2 cup into a ziplock and put in the fridge for 30 minutes. Remove and fry as you normally would. No need to wash off the hot sauce, just dredge in breading and fry them.

The fish will not be hot as you might expect. The hot sauce breaks down of the fish oils and the heat from the grease breaks down the heat of the hot sauce.

lookinforsnook

Andy's fish fry mix. Should be able to find at Publix, Winn Dixie, etc. Dip fish in ice water for a minute or so. Shake off excess water toss in Tupperware style bowl with cover, shake to coat. Shallow pan fry in oil of choice, enjoy. Comes in a couple of different flavorings from traditional to Cajun to spicy.

Captain Crispy

In every aisle...

SWF Pontoon Angler

The Bisquick recipe I posted is very light and crunchy like Tempura.

OldBigBucks

PANKO!!! I fried flounder with panko a few nights ago and a couple of nights later I ask my wife,who is very health conscience, how she would like me to cook some more, maybe more healthy, and she says, "PANKO!"

Rundeep

I use Japanese style panko very light.

Blutarsky

Don't do it very often anymore , but Louisiana hot sauce, then corn meal, then canola oil! made my mouth water while typing this.

nuffaredy

I eat a lot of fish, and really like it fried, but I know that’s not the healthy way to prepare it, so I’ve bought an air fryer, and am experiencing some miserable failures with it - Uneven cooking, and frequent turning seem to be necessary.
Anybody got Some tips on using the air fryer, or is it just another gimmick?

laguna23

House Autry is the way to go! Not a heavy breading at all.

mwgoldman

got a frying question for y'all. my fish always comes out soggy after frying. We usually do some bread crumbs and panko fry it until brown then set it on a cake drying rack. Its just not as crispy as I want. Y'all got a secret for that?

Ironworker

Get the oil hot and keep it hot. If you put in to many fillets, it cools the oil down too much and the fish gets soggy.