Recipes wanted: fried catfish

[Skybird]

Disclaimer: please everybody note, I did not say "Fry Catfish".



I got several pieces of catfish, enough for lets say 3-4 tries. I never tasted it, have no clue what to expect, and wonder what to do with it.

I read that fried catfish with a sweet dressing and Kraut salad is kind of a speciality in American southern states, especially Louisiana. However, I tried several of these sweet BBQ sauces, and I did not like any of them, I must admit, so I am a bit hesitent there. My steak only with salt and pepper and herbs and butter, please.

What fish does it more compare to in taste, is it more like Thuna, or Salmon? If any of these two, I know what would work as a dressing and what probably not.

Is it somehtign totally different? I intend to go with a corn breading, and frying in plenty of oil, maybe not a pan, but a deep fryer, 4 minutes. What matches the taste? Sweet, tomato-based? Asian sweet-hot? Or olive oil, lemon juice, and herbs like dill? Salt ands pepper only?


I also read that catfish, in German known as "Wels", or Austrian: "Waller", is a common table fish in Austria. Here in Germany it is almost exotic, judging by supermarkets' offerings.


And how does Catfish work for BBC, without any breading? Falls apart too easily, or does it stay in one piece?

[Jimbuna]

Have you tried enquiring of Kai?



I can't answer the above questions but I did have a catfish meal whilst in Mexico last October and the ingredients aren't hard to come by.

This looks pretty close to what I had and enjoyed: https://www.recipezazz.com/recipe/me...d-catfish-4657

[Aktungbby]

1. Oil for frying, about 1 quart
2. 1 cup finely ground cornmeal
3. 1 cup all-purpose flour*
4. 1 teaspoon creole seasoning
5. 1/4 teaspoon salt
6. 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
7. 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
8. 6 catfish fillets, rinsed and patted dry
9. 3/4 cup buttermilk*
10. What do you soak catfish in before frying?
11. Heat oil in a 5-6 quart dutch oven (or fryer) until the temperature reaches 350F, making sure to adjust the heat to maintain the temperature.
12. In a shallow dish, big enough for the fish pieces, sift the cornmeal and flour.
13. In a small bowl, combine the creole seasoning, salt, smoked paprika, and black pepper. Season catfish on both sides with the seasoning mixture.
14. Place buttermilk in a shallow dish.
15. Dip each seasoned fish fillet in the buttermilk, flipping it once to coat both sides. Allow excess buttermilk to drip off and move on to cornmeal mixture. Flip the fillet to coat the other side with cornmeal mixture. Transfer to a wire cooling rack while you repeat the process with remaining fillets.
16. Gently, add the fillets, 2 at a time, to the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 6 minutes.
17. Remove the fried fillets to a cooling rack while you fry remaining fillets.
18. Serve immediatly.The catfish is thin, so it cooks through in the time that it takes the exterior to become a beautiful, crispy golden brown. You don’t have to burn the exterior in order to finish the inside, and you don’t have to transfer the skillet to the oven to finish baking.

The fish will take about 5-7 minutes per side. THE FIRST FISH I CAUGHT AT AGE FIVE WITH A BAMBOO POLE AND PIECE OF BACON FOR BAIT WAS A CATFISH FROM MINNEHAHA CREEK... AND MOM COOKED IT!

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Oil for frying, about 1 quart

1. 1 cup finely ground cornmeal
2. 1 cup all-purpose flour*
3. 1 teaspoon creole seasoning
4. 1/4 teaspoon salt
5. 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
6. 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
7. 6 catfish fillets, rinsed and patted dry
8. 3/4 cup buttermilk*
9. What do you soak catfish in before frying?
10. Heat oil in a 5-6 quart dutch oven (or fryer) until the temperature reaches 350F, making sure to adjust the heat to maintain the temperature.
11. In a shallow dish, big enough for the fish pieces, sift the cornmeal and flour.
12. In a small bowl, combine the creole seasoning, salt, smoked paprika, and black pepper. Season catfish on both sides with the seasoning mixture.
13. Place buttermilk in a shallow dish.
14. Dip each seasoned fish fillet in the buttermilk, flipping it once to coat both sides. Allow excess buttermilk to drip off and move on to cornmeal mixture. Flip the fillet to coat the other side with cornmeal mixture. Transfer to a wire cooling rack while you repeat the process with remaining fillets.
15. Gently, add the fillets, 2 at a time, to the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 6 minutes.
16. Remove the fried fillets to a cooling rack while you fry remaining fillets.
17. Serve immediatly.The catfish is thin, so it cooks through in the time that it takes the exterior to become a beautiful, crispy golden brown. You don’t have to burn the exterior in order to finish the inside, and you don’t have to transfer the skillet to the oven to finish baking.

The fish will take about 5-7 minutes per side. THE FIRST FISH I CAUGHT AT AGE FIVE WITH A BAMBOO POLE AND PIECE OF BACON FOR BAIT WAS A CATFISH FROM MINNEHAHA CREEK... AND MOM COOKED IT!

Thanks, sounds to point at the same direction I plan to go at. Just the creole seasoning I must miss this time, I have none. I have not even a clue what that is, btw. Some spice melange, I assume.

[Skybird]

https://www.daringgourmet.com/creole-seasoning-recipe/


Looks Italian to me. LOL

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Thanks, sounds to point at the same direction I plan to go at. Just the creole seasoning I must miss this time, I have none. I have not even a clue what that is, btw. Some spice melange, I assume.

although commercially available, make your own Creole seasoning from standard kitchen fare: 2.5 tblsp paprika; 2 tblsp salt; 2 tblsp garlic powder; 1 tblsp black pepper; 1 tblsp onion powder; 1 tblsp cayenne pepper; 1 tblsp dried oregano; 1 tblsp dry thyme...blend well and keep handy-good in omlets too!

[Catfish]

Me and my fellow catfish are shocked by this question.. I would never fry them!

Bake or grill, that's the thing


If i remember right the normal european Danube or wherever catfish does not have too much own taste (like when you read my posts ahem), so some spices if basic ones are in order. (you do not need dill anyway, against the usual "fishyness" of others)
The Mekong catfish you can sometimes get here imho has a bit of a metallic smack, but it is interesting and not bad at all. But the latter is on the brink of dying out, so.. better not.

I have not prepared it often (3 times?), but for what i remember it does not fall apart as easily as some other sweetwater fish, the flesh is a bit tighter (if not as swordfish, which is almost steak-like and of course a saltwater species).

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Have you tried enquiring of Kai?



I can't answer the above questions but I did have a catfish meal whilst in Mexico last October and the ingredients aren't hard to come by.

This looks pretty close to what I had and enjoyed: https://www.recipezazz.com/recipe/me...d-catfish-4657

I am surprised that the huge majority of recipes I read on the web contain relatively simple, and apparently always the same ingredients: salt, something hot, often garlic or onion. No dill. Sometimes a dip or sauce that often seems to be kind of sweet. This Mexican dip seems to go in that direction as well.

The Austrian recipes however seem to prefer kind of creamy sauces, and then potatoes.

Currently preparing the kitchen. Will go with a breading of egg, corn flour mixed with salt, paprica powder, garlic, chillim powder a little bit. Then see how the baked pieces get accompanied by different readyx-sauces from the bottle, especially Sweet Chilly Sauce and Spanish Tomato-Cream-Cayenne Sauce.

My default sauce for fish either is self-made dill-honey-mustard sauce, or a sauce of olive oil, lemon juice, salt, coarse black pepper and lots of dill. But that does not fit with fish in fried breaded coating.

Hm, just comes to my mind: garlic and then frying oil at according high temperature maybe is no good idea, very likely gets bitter... Thats why you add garlic to pizza after baking, not before and during baking it. Garlic salt maybe works, but I have none at home...


Yes. Im getting hungry.

[Skybird]

Yumyum, that was, good, but not that special as I hoped for.

I cut the filet in 2-finger-sized pieces, coated them in a breading of whipped egg, corn flour and normal flour mixed with salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, paprika powder, and fried it in a deep fryer for 5 minutes. The result was what looked like fried chicken nuggets, and tasted almost exactly like that.

Hm. Fish. Chicken Wings. Think again.

I had several dips, of which Heionz Spanish Tomato Cheyenne sauce and Heinz sweet chili sauce worked very good, also a Danish Burger sauce I tried. The other attempts I had did not convince.

The problem is, when you cover something in flour or breading and then pout it into frying oil, it all tends to taste the same. Its a good taste, thats why this kind of junk food - chicken wings - are so popular, the taste of fried coating is attractive (and very unhealthy, of course). But everythign tastes the same, no matter what the coating hides: beef, pig, vegetable, fish, chicken - it all tastes like fried chicken nuggets.

5 minutes was too long, 3 or 4 minutes at 150°C would work better, the fish was still in one piece inside the coatingk, but very soft. The consistence reminded me of what in German wrongly is named "Seelachs", and that is a covering name for coalfish/Bostoin Blue/Saithe - there is no such fish like "Seelachs". The taste was extrenely mild. Nutrition-wise, "Seelachs" is not very worthy a table fish (thats why the industry loves it, its cheap for them to process - Fischstäbchen and the likes - , but can be sold at higher price), catfish scores much better.

So while the taste for itself was providing me a nice and not unwelcomed fast food experience and I enjoyed eating it, it was not what I expect from eating "fish".

I will try again, this time frying in a pan or even grilling, and giving the fish shorter time in the heat, and hopefully getting a more firm bite from the meat. Also, I then can use more subtle dressings, using olive oil, lemon juice and dill, salt, pepper.

Good first try, but I want more, and better. At least I learned that catfish is an absolutely acceptable alternative. I like it.