Frying a bunch of fish, just not sure what.

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rio_grande

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Feb 4, 2009
608
11
INDIANA
I am getting ready to fry a bunch fish for a faimly gathering. I havent done this in years. back then we used catfish, but I havent been able to find good catfish in years. what reasonably priced fish would you recomend to please most tastes and what breading do you recomend?
 
up here in the great northwest its halibut and lincod season, also alaskan salmon is starting to show up in the stores tho still not affordable.
 
Talapia is good by giving it a dip in  flour, egg, and panko bread crumbs. The same for any type of cod.
 
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We always use panfish or walleye that we have caught but if you have to buy fish Talapia is good as Richoso1 mentioned. We just dip them in egg then put your crackers or breading on it then fry it. Good Stuff.
 
yea, if you aren't going to use good american catfish, I'd go with tilapia. I used to cook tilapia alot and the flavor is great for a store bought fish. I just wont buy it anymore due to it being foreign and the way it was raised.

As far as battering goes, as said before where do you live? you can make your own by mixing cornmeal and flour and seasoning it to your liking, but depending where you live your grocery probably has some great ready made batter in boxes.

here is a good brand we use in louisiana. 

http://www.louisianafishfry.com/shopping_additems.php?action=showitem&id=148

also a brand that I have come to like better than louisiana is Chef KD fish fry. Try searching it online and see if you could order some. His site shows it but its not for sale yet, but if you called I'm sure they'd sell it to you

Good luck with the gathering and if you need anymore help just ask
 
We are big fans of Shore Lunch brand batter. We like the Cajun style. Or McCormick makes several good batters as well. Just check your grocery store or in a pinch we will just use flower with a little salt, pepper, garlic/onion powder or anything else you like added. Some times that is the best way to go.
 
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You should be able to find flounder or tilapia where you are there Jeff. Now for a batter or breading I like Zairian's myself or you can make a good beer batter with a some good bread crumbs maybe Italian bread crumbs. You want it to be a thick pancake like batter.
 
flounder is good if you can find like fresh flounder. I bought the packaged frozen kind from like walmart that sells right beside the tilapia, that was the grossest most foul smelling fish ever. It was literally like cooking fish bait. it was horrible so beware of buying the frozen flounder
 
Sorry guys I am from southeastern Indiana. We have access to zatarans.

I was glad to see someone mention mixing flour and corneal. I did that in a test run this week and but for a few tweaks I thought it turned out pretty good. I like Catfish, but just havent been able to find any decent filets latey.  Cod was good but not practical for large groups.

We can get quantites of Catfish, whitefish, cod and everything else is gonna be special order.

We would go for the fresh caught panfish but I barely have time to get my work done let alone catch my own..   
 
yea, I'd go with the catfish if you can get it. I do like catfish when it is thin fried. And if you can make it yourself with cornmeal and flour, go with that. Im from LA and I don't like zatarain's, matter of fact most people around here don't use it. If you gonna buy store bought there are just better options, at least there is here.
 
I suggest Catfish....Look for small filets 3-5 oz. ~~~ 5-7 oz would be ok ~~~ If you find the 5-7 oz filets I would cut them into 2 to 3 pieces for cooking. ~~~~ I fry a lot of fish and use a mixture of cornmeal and flour (corn flour if you can find it) more cornmeal than flour....Season with Salt, Red and course black pepper, a little garlic etc.....dredge the fish in the mixture a few minutes before dropping into hot P-nut oil...Don't crowd the pan! Hopefully you can fry on a propane fish cooker so your recovery time back to frying temperatures will be quick....HTH

Oh I would not buy fish that did not include COOL (Country of Origin Label) on the bag, box etc. Obviously you want USA product...Frozen and thawed fish in a fish case may say USA product but ya never know, depending on the retailer.

Y'all have fun!
 
Thanks for the replies.  I am remembering more every day and learning some stuff too. I have3 burners with 3 aluminum pots and baskets. they used to work just fine but it has been a while sine I took them out for a spin.
 
I'll add something that really works good. Alot of folks use an egg wash then some sort of bread crumbs, corn meal, panko, etc. Try using some mayonaise instead. Don't over do it, but coat the fish fairly well so whatever you are using sticks. Then fry. Of course don't use vegetable oil. Canola or Peanut is much better and has a higher flash point. Less time in the grease, better flavor.
 
Here's my recipe for emans fish fry.

 i make 10 lbs at a time but i will reduce it to 5 lbs in this post

Ingediants:

2.5 lbs all purpouse flour

2.5 lbs masa flour

1/3 cup lemon pepper

1/4 cup cayanne pepper

1/3 cup onion powder

1/4 cup garlic powder

1/8 cup celery seed.

 i don't use salt so all i can say is that's up to you on how much.

I don't use eggs or milk on my fish .

 I mix 3 parts yellow mustard w/ one part hot sauce ( not tobassco) use a mild hot sauce

 coat fish well then dredge in the fish fry and fry it up.
 
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