Fear of Frying

We had some bluegill and crappie in the freezer left from some fishing trip and it was time to get it out. Now I've tried lots of ways to cook fish that I like. I've tried seasoning and baking in a glass pan. I've tried chowders (I LOVE any kind of fish stew). But each time, Mark dutifully tries a small portion and then loads up with the salad or vegetable. And Tim is no better, though as a kid you expect more pickiness. Fish has never been a hit in our house. I've even tried Crispy Baked Fish? hoping it would be close enough to something the boys might like. But it was not. It has gotten so I buy myself sushi and frequently order fish when we go to a restaurant for dinner, just so I can get some. So I finally relented and decided to confront my fear of frying. We would do the fish the way Mark always tells me he loves fish. We would waste a ton of oil and dirty up my kitchen with evaporated oil globules that would fall down and settle on every surface, making everything gummy. (And let's not talk about arteries, OK?) Hooray! Fried Fish! And Coleslaw!

Mark called his mom to find out the family way to cook. Her main hint: be sure the oil is hot enough. Her method of coating, given here, is simplicity itself. Cook's Illustrated is almost as simple - only adding seasoning to the cornmeal and a flour-dredging step before dipping in egg. I've also seen recipes using mashed potato flakes (http://www.grouprecipes.com/sr/1373/crispy-fish-fillets/recipe/), cracker crumbs, etc. Mrs. Mary Randolph's The Virginia Housewife Or, Methodical Cook from 1860 uses flour, not cornmeal, and no egg
To Fry Perch. Clean the fish nicely, but do not tke out the roes; dry them on a cloth, sprinkle some salt, and dredge them with flour, lay them separately on a board; when one side is dry, turn them, sprinkle salt and dredge the other side; be sure the lard boils when you put the fish in, and dry them with great care; they should be a yellowish brown when done. Send melted butter or anchovy sauce in a boat.
But "mom's cooking" is cornmeal not flour, so cornmeal it is. And egg and milk to stick it on. Perhaps it's a midwestern thing. They went fishing in Minnesota every year for years and years and years. As we got into the project, I realized that my fear of frying was being drained away. It was obvious before we even bit into it just how good it would be. As Keith Sutton writes (http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/columns/story?columnist=sutton_keith&page=g_col_sutton_crappie_more-than-kid-stuff)

Now I find myself about to savor the best part of the crappie-fishing experience — the eating.

The sweet aroma of hot peanut oil fills my kitchen as I dredge the fillets from some jumbo Lake Greeson crappie in seasoned yellow cornmeal. When each piece is ready, I drop it in the skillet. The fillets sizzle and dance as they cook.

...as I watch the fillets cooking, I feel like a hungry cat watching a crippled bird. My gastric juices churn. I salivate like a wolf winding blood.

I bite into one of the hot, golden fillets, and in a sudden moment of clarity, I realize: this is why I love crappie fishing.

And as for the mess? It really wasn't that bad. The panfish we had were thin little fillets, and didn't need deep-frying quantities of oil. Really, it probably made no more mess than frying up a pound of bacon. The leftover oil was fed to a corner of the yard after it cooled. If you don't have a yard you can mix it with something absorbent (kitty litter? vermiculite?) and put it in the trash. Just don't pour it down the drain unless you like paying plumbers.

1 lb white Fish? fillets, thawed

Get fish to room temperature (cold fish will impede sealing action of the hot oil). Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towels. Cut into serving-size pieces. Gauge thickness of fish for cooking time.

2 Egg?s, beaten.
a splash of Milk? (somewhere between 2 and 4 tbsp)

In a shallow dish, combine eggs and milk.

enough cornmeal (somewhere between 2/3 and 1 cup)
1 small Onion?, chopped (this was Mark's addition - his mother hates onions)

Put the cornmeal and onion chunks in a gallon ziploc bag.

Peanut Oil? for frying

I used a heavy 12 inch stainless steel skillet, but next time will probably try my wok (but I wouldn't if I had a thin cheap lightweight wok). The amount of oil you need depends on the pan you use. You want enough to get 1/4 to 1/2 inch of oil in the bottom. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.

Put the fish in the egg dip and make sure each side is coated. Then put in the ziploc with the cornmeal and coat the fish completely.

Check the oil temperature. It should have gone from the shimmer of waves through the oil to the point where a drop of water sizzles vigorously, but not so hot that the water just explodes when it hits the surface of the oil.

Fry fish fillets in oil for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, flipping halfway to ensure even cooking. Cook until golden brown. Don't do too many at a time or you will cool the oil too much and will end up with a soggy grease-logged product.

Drain on paper towels. Keep warm in 200 degree oven while frying remaining fish.

You also need to serve Teresa's Coleslaw? with this. And Tartar Sauce. And next time, I am going to make hush puppies. It has been YEARS since I've had hush puppies. And I know Tim would eat those. I'm going to try the recipe from Homesick Texan's paean to fried catfish.

Other versions:

OIL HEAT ENTREE? (PAN-FRYING, SAUTEING, STIR-FRYING, OVEN-FRYING)

MethodCategory?:

DepressionEra?

Fairly Done?

No other page links to Pan-Fried Fish yet.

Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
Page Execution took real: 0.718, user: 0.340, sys: 0.350 seconds , Memory: 10302720