HOW TO FRY CATFISH THE RIGHT WAY

[Graybeard]

https://www.wideopenspaces.com/frying-catfish-right/



Posted by Will Jukes

Frying catfish correctly is an art.

Fried catfish joins a long, sad list of regional southern dishes that are often done wrong, such as barbecue, grits and fried chicken.

It doesn't need to be this way with fried fish. Frying catfish right is a pretty simple procedure, as long as you take these few suggestions to heart.

Let's jump into it.

Step 1: Before You Fry

The work you do prior to frying will be decisive. For frying catfish fillets, your biggest concerns will be the size of the fillet, and careful preparation of the breading.

Frying the whole fillet is a bad idea. Everyone knows that a larger fillet takes more time to cook, and time is always a liability when frying. Your fillet should be cut into small chunks or strips, and washed thoroughly before applying the breading. Whichever you decide, make sure the fillet is cut into thinner pieces.

The breading should be a mixture of cornmeal and a leavening agent, which could be all-purpose flour, baking soda or yeast. The leavened mix will make the breading crispier once it comes out of the fryer. For the best crust, you should apply two coats of breading.

You'll need an egg wash for this, but that's pretty easy to make--it's just a mix of egg yolk and milk that adds flavor and holds the breading together. After washing your fish, apply a thin coat of breading, and even some black pepper if you're feeling adventurous.

Shake off excess and then brush with egg wash until you have an even layer. Finish it off with another coat of breading. The layered approach helps the breading stick better, ensuring a thick, even crust with no cracks.

Step 2: The Fryer

Peanut oil is preferred, Crisco and lard are good alternatives for the peanut-allergic. Sources are split on whether to use a deep fryer or a dutch oven, but that's a matter of taste and what's on hand. You just want to make sure that you're deep frying, and that you're not using canola oil.

The ideal temperature for the oil is 350 degrees--not lower than that, and not too far over it. This is important, because the temperature of the oil influences how much gets absorbed. Soggy, oily catfish is usually a result of cooking at too low a temperature.

Step 3: Resting and Serving

It's pretty easy to tell when a piece of catfish is done frying. It will float to the top when it's nearly done. Once the crust is golden brown, remove it from the oil and set it on a paper towel. Then comes the critical final step: dabbing the excess oil. A lot of oil is absorbed while the fish is resting, and you need just the right amount to soak in. Too much gets you soggy, unpleasant fish, while too little leaves you without the flavor and mouthfeel that's the entire point of frying.

This takes a practiced touch, and you'll need to experiment a few times to find the right crispy balance.

So get out there, catch some catfish and start frying!

[Ranger99]

I agree with most of it

JMHO- the biggest problem with frying
is that people don't get their grease hot
enough.  Needs to be HOT, like rolling
bubbling hot

[Lloyd Smale]

I dont like the thick batters much anymore. I buy "Fry Magic" its a light batter. I do add a bit more spice to it. My dad likes those thick beer batter coatings but i think they take away from the taste of the fish.

[JoeG52]

I'm with you on that Lloyd. I don't like thick batter on fish. If it is served to me that way I scrape the batter off and eat just the fish.

[Buckskin]

Since when is black pepper adventurous?  We caught two 25lb flatheads about a month ago, imo they are the seabass of freshwater and very hard to beat, much better than a channel.

[BUGEYE]

Why did the article say not to use canola oil??
That's all we use.

[Bob Riebe]

Why did the article say not to use canola oil??
That's all we use.

Different oils cook and taste differently, Canola, patented Rape Seed, is the latest , must use, on too many cooking shows as it is supposedly more healthy but but does not impart the good flavour many other types do such as Lard, Sunflower, Peanut oil or duck grease.

I never use Canola.

[BUGEYE]

Why did the article say not to use canola oil??
That's all we use.

Different oils cook and taste differently, Canola, patented Rape Seed, is the latest , must use, on too many cooking shows as it is supposedly more healthy but but does not impart the good flavour many other types do such as Lard, Sunflower, Peanut oil or duck grease.

I never use Canola.

So if you fry your catfish in peanut oil, the fish will taste like peanuts??

[Buckskin]

Canola works just fine, it's a light oil that handles high heat well and has very little taste.

[Ranger99]

Canola works just fine, it's a light oil that handles high heat well and has very little taste.

The problem with it is that it
falls in the same category as
peanut, safflower, sunflower,
Corn oil, cottonseed, and soybean oil

They're bad for your ticker, or at
least that's what the brochure doo dad
my doctor gave me says

IMO  everything in moderation, and
don't fret over it

[BUGEYE]

IMO  everything in moderation, and
don't fret over it

I find it impossible to eat catfish and hush puppies in moderation.

[Graybeard]

IMO  everything in moderation, and
don't fret over it

I find it impossible to eat catfish and hush puppies in moderation.

Ain't that the truth.

[oldandslow]

I'm not a cook so don't know what is what about this but my wife has it figuered out using cornmeal. We have a grocery run coming up today shortly and I am going to suggest some catfish fillets as this has made me hungry. I am with BUGEYE and GB, there is no way to eat catfish and hush puppies in moderation.

There is a catfish joint in Buffalo Gap, TX that used to do catfish right. My wife oldest brother lives pretty close and when we go down to visit we always hit the joint. Catfish, hush puppies, french fries for four, and a pitcher of beer make a very good meal. I hope it survived last year and covid.

[nw_hunter]

IMO  everything in moderation, and
don't fret over it

I find it impossible to eat catfish and hush puppies in moderation.

Ditto!

[Dee]

IMO  everything in moderation, and
don't fret over it

I find it impossible to eat catfish and hush puppies in moderation.

Ditto!

Plus 4! Linda feels the same way.

We gorge on all you can eat catfish, hushpuppies, beans, coleslaw, onions, lemon, and ice tea, every Friday. Moderation! Only on Friday.

[Lloyd Smale]

had fried lake trout and fried potatoes last night for supper. Only thing better is whitefish or walleye or best of the bunch  northern pike. I dont do catfish much. Only way we get it up here is frozen and it tends to be a bit mushy versas flakey.  Ive had it fresh down south though and theres sure nothing wrong with it but me? Ill take pike any day. Lake Trout can be a bit strong tasting if there to big. It gets real fatty and has a strong taste. but hands down (other then salt water firsh) the best fresh water fish is pike caught out of lake superior where the water never gets warm. Some up here perfer lake perch but to me there like trout a bit on the strong tasting side.

[Buckskin]

I agree on the pike. My son caught a 35"er yesterday and let it go, I about smacked him in the head...

Went up to Green Bay last weekend and got a dandy limit of whitefish.  Had 10 lbs of fillets, but we ate about half of them.

Only issue with pike and whitefish is you need to know how to fillet them, both have the y bones or the likes.  Not hard to do but takes more time than a walleye.

[Lloyd Smale]

ya pike are a learned art to filet. My buddy is a master. Me im more of a hack job

I agree on the pike. My son caught a 35"er yesterday and let it go, I about smacked him in the head...

Went up to Green Bay last weekend and got a dandy limit of whitefish.  Had 10 lbs of fillets, but we ate about half of them.

Only issue with pike and whitefish is you need to know how to fillet them, both have the y bones or the likes.  Not hard to do but takes more time than a walleye.

[Lloyd Smale]

anyone share one of my favorites. I love sitting on the patio on a nice summer morning having a breakfast with just a salt shaker and some left over fried fish cold.

[BUGEYE]

anyone share one of my favorites. I love sitting on the patio on a nice summer morning having a breakfast with just a salt shaker and some left over fried fish cold.

When I was a little boy I ate cold fried fish for breakfast at my Grandmas.
I loved it.    It was either catfish or buffalo that she bought from the fish monger.
We’d have it once a week in the summer.

[Buckskin]

anyone share one of my favorites. I love sitting on the patio on a nice summer morning having a breakfast with just a salt shaker and some left over fried fish cold.

Yep, every time we make fish.  Not always on a summer morning though...

[Lloyd Smale]

youve never had cold water pike then. Pike caught in small warmer inland lakes suck. Pike caught in a spring fed lake or the great lakes espeically here on lake superior is the firmest least fatty fish you can get. Pure white and flaky. Walleye are actually a pike themselves and arent that much different to filet. We have burbot here too but not many people fish them. I do like them but the places to fish them around here mean a 200 mile round trip drive and no fish is worth that. Another decent fresh water fist is coho salmon but it has to be jacks (small ones) the larger ones get fatty and mushy like lake trout. Most guys up here throw back larger walleye too. Unlike pike they can get fatty too do to there slightly different diets. Pike and musky tend to be nice white flaky meat no matter how big they get that is as long as the water is cold.

[Mule 11]

If you like a light breading try drakes, it’s mostly used as a batter butt I just roll whatever I’m frying in the dry mix and fry it. It’s not cheap but it’s good. It will be around the shake and bake and bread crumb area of the store.

[Buckskin]

Quality pike are not mushy at all, very white flakey fish. Much less mushy than a walleye and better flavor.  Yeah boney, but if you cut out the strip of bones out above the rib cage it's just as boneless as any other fillet. YouTube vids can show you how I'm sure.  I've done it so much I can literally do it with my eyes closed.


Never heard of them called cusk.  We call them either burbot or eelpout, excellent eating.  We catch them while walleye fishing in Lake of the Woods and they end up being our appetizer.  Boiled then a squeeze of lemon and dipped in Irish butter.  Oh man....   Funny thing is the locals up there toss them on the ice for the birds.

[Bob Riebe]

We have Burbot, (cusk) in well oxygenated deep water lakes.

I have not gone fishing for a long time now but I have caught, cleaned and eaten pike out of Southern Minnesota lake and they are not mushy; the only fish down here that are best left after spring/early summer are large mouth bass, they are not good in warmer weather.

I have filleted but stopped doing it long before I quit fishing, I have zero problem eating bony fish and the bigger the fish, the bigger the bones, i.e. easier to pick out.
A grocery store up here used to sell pike chunks, a cleaned skin-on pike section cut across the fish, not length wise.
I do not know where they got them but from the size of these chunks , they were at least 20 pound fish at one time. In a pike that size the bones are quite large and simple to pick out.
For what it is worth:
Perch, Walleye, Zander --  Order Perciformes -- Genus Perca
Pike, Musky, Pickerel     -- Order Esociformes -- Genus Esox

[Lloyd Smale]

when i was a kid i didnt like fish. Dad caught mostly big pike and chunked them up like that because he thought fileting wasted to much money and was for rich people. I hated picking through bones and they always baked it vs frying it.. After us kids were all gone he and ma started flieting there fish. Wasnt till i was in the service down south and had fried fish for the first time that i fell in love with it. Bass sucks period. Even caught in cold water is to strong tasting and the small lakes around here that have lots of bass especially the warmer ones have the bass full of grubs and other parasites. Theres one lake we fish once or twice a year that has huge large mouth. there a ball to catch, especially on a light fly rod but you can eat them.

We have Burbot, (cusk) in well oxygenated deep water lakes.

I have not gone fishing for a long time now but I have caught, cleaned and eaten pike out of Southern Minnesota lake and they are not mushy; the only fish down here that are best left after spring/early summer are large mouth bass, they are not good in warmer weather.

I have filleted but stopped doing it long before I quit fishing, I have zero problem eating bony fish and the bigger the fish, the bigger the bones, i.e. easier to pick out.
A grocery store up here used to sell pike chunks, a cleaned skin-on pike section cut across the fish, not length wise.
I do not know where they got them but from the size of these chunks , they were at least 20 pound fish at one time. In a pike that size the bones are quite large and simple to pick out.
For what it is worth:
Perch, Walleye, Zander --  Order Perciformes -- Genus Perca
Pike, Musky, Pickerel     -- Order Esociformes -- Genus Esox