# Firehouse Fish Fry



## indaswamp (May 19, 2021)

I got home from Kansas on a Weds. 2 weeks ago with an ice chest full of fresh fish fillets. Called the guys at the firehouse...fish fry that Friday night.

The set up:







Coleslaw ready to be assembled when the frying is done..
	

		
			
		

		
	







The way we do it in the south-mustard, egg and hot sauce batter.





Fried to perfection. We use old pizza boxes lined with news paper and paper towels. It's perfect for fried foods!





Up close:





Camp FF... the secret is uniform slice about 3/16" thick so they cook properly.





Soak in water after slicing to prevent grey spots.

Dry FF before frying...











Perfect Camp French Fries...add a little cajun seasoning while they are hot.





The Plate:






Fresh fried Crappie are hard to beat!!!


----------



## kilo charlie (May 19, 2021)

Looks fantastic!!


----------



## WI Smoker77 (May 19, 2021)

That looks great!  Thanks for the tip on soaking the FF to prevent grey spots.  One question: Just a mustard and egg and hot sauce?  No flour or anything to hold it to the fish while frying?   Looks awesome


----------



## indaswamp (May 19, 2021)

WI Smoker77 said:


> That looks great!  Thanks for the tip on soaking the FF to prevent grey spots.  One question: Just a mustard and egg and hot sauce?  No flour or anything to hold it to the fish while frying?   Looks awesome


My bad...
soak the fish in the mustard, egg and hot sauce batter, then coat with Zataran's Crispy seasoned Corn flour (with lemon). We use the Cajun Batter Bowl, which you can see on the table. Blue bowls on top and bottom with a plastic screen between them.


----------



## indaswamp (May 19, 2021)

Fish fry we use:
https://www.mccormick.com/zatarains...mixes/breading-mixes/crispy-southern-fish-fri


----------



## indaswamp (May 19, 2021)

Fish batter for a gallon bag of fish fillets...

1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
4 lg. eggs
hot sauce to taste; we use Crystals Hot Sauce...about 1/8 cup (use less if using Tabasco or a hotter sauce)

Blend well with whisk. Best to dry fillets before adding to batter so it will not be watered down. mix in fish and let sit for 10-15 minutes prior to frying...


----------



## BrianGSDTexoma (May 19, 2021)

Oh Man that looks to die for!


----------



## 912smoker (May 19, 2021)

Man that looks great ! Got redbreast  in the freezer that need frying up now !


----------



## indaswamp (May 19, 2021)

912smoker said:


> Man that looks great ! Got redbreast  in the freezer that need frying up now !


Sunfish? Nothing beats mustard battered Sunfish! That's how the mustard batter started in the south, whole sunfish....


----------



## disco (May 19, 2021)

Would you accept an old Canadian who  wanted to be a fire fighter as a kid? This looks so good. Big like.


----------



## kilo charlie (May 19, 2021)

disco said:


> Would you accept an old Canadian who  wanted to be a fire fighter as a kid? This looks so good. Big like.



Do they have volunteer firefighters up there? Perhaps an opportunity to fulfill that dream! 

Believe it or not..but 70 to 75% of all firefighters in the US are volunteer.


----------



## disco (May 19, 2021)

kilo charlie said:


> Do they have volunteer firefighters up there? Perhaps an opportunity to fulfill that dream!
> 
> Believe it or not..but 70 to 75% of all firefighters in the US are volunteer.


Same, same in Canada. A lot of rural communities are volunteer firefighters. We have a full department in the small city near us and we pay for coverage.


----------



## GonnaSmoke (May 19, 2021)

indaswamp said:


> ....
> Fresh fried Crappie are hard to beat!!!


Ain't that the truth. Some may argue otherwise, but there really is no better tasting fish swimming in fresh water....


----------



## Bearcarver (May 19, 2021)

Looks Great, Inda!!!
Crappies never deserved their name---Nothing Crappy about them!!!
Nice Job!
Like.

Bear


----------



## jcam222 (May 19, 2021)

That’s a heck of a nice mess of crappie!!


----------



## indaswamp (May 19, 2021)

disco said:


> Would you accept an old Canadian who  wanted to be a fire fighter as a kid? This looks so good. Big like.


Sure Disco...you'd be welcome anytime I cook, but I am not a firefighter, my cousin is district captain. But I do cook a lot at the station for the guys. They pitch in with groceries and do most of the clean up, I'm a bachelor so rarely cook big meals for just me...it's a win/win.



GonnaSmoke said:


> Ain't that the truth. Some may argue otherwise, but there really is no better tasting fish swimming in fresh water....


Only freshwater fish that may top Crappie is walleye IMO...we caught some of those too.



Bearcarver said:


> Looks Great, Inda!!!
> Crappies never deserved their name---Nothing Crappy about them!!!
> Nice Job!
> Like.
> ...




Thanks Bear!
Indeed....Cajuns call them Sac au Lait. the meat is white as milk compared to every other fresh water fish that swims in Louisiana.



jcam222 said:


> That’s a heck of a nice mess of crappie!!


Thanks jcam222! We caught 57 crappie 11-16" in 3 days of fishing. Ony really targeted crappie one day, caught 32 that day. Rest of the time we targeted walleye and caught some more crappie then.


----------



## chopsaw (May 19, 2021)

That looks fantastic . I love both , but if I had my choice . Walleye everytime . 
I have the original batter pro . Must have for this stuff . 
Nice work .


----------



## GaryHibbert (May 19, 2021)

Those look real good Inda.  I'm going to try that soak and batter next time I go fishing.
Gary


----------



## jcam222 (May 19, 2021)

indaswamp said:


> Sure Disco...you'd be welcome anytime I cook, but I am not a firefighter, my cousin is district captain. But I do cook a lot at the station for the guys. They pitch in with groceries and do most of the clean up, I'm a bachelor so rarely cook big meals for just me...it's a win/win.
> 
> 
> Only freshwater fish that may top Crappie is walleye IMO...we caught some of those too.
> ...


Wow!! That’s some really slab crappies!! I also love walleye.


----------



## Brokenhandle (May 19, 2021)

Now i'm starving for some fish... crappie or walleye! Looks excellent!

Ryan


----------



## Fueling Around (May 19, 2021)

Crappie and Perch holds up there with Walleye. Sunfish (bluegill) from cold water is also tasty.

Happy to see you posting with all the flooding  happening in your area.


----------



## Steve H (May 20, 2021)

Looks like perfection to me! Love to get some crappie. I used to live off them when I was living in Arkansas.


----------



## indaswamp (May 20, 2021)

Fueling Around said:


> Happy to see you posting with all the flooding happening in your area.


Thanks. Crazy rain event. Nowhere near like what happened here in 2016 though, that was more rain over a wider area. This was record rainfall in a small area. Just north of me got 14.7" of rain in 13 hours.

So far, 19" of rain since Monday at the house....Been a really wet spring.


----------



## indaswamp (May 20, 2021)

Brokenhandle said:


> Now i'm starving for some fish... crappie or walleye! Looks excellent!
> 
> Ryan


Thanks Ryan!



Steve H said:


> Looks like perfection to me! Love to get some crappie. I used to live off them when I was living in Arkansas.


Thanks Steve! Didn't know you lived in the south for a while...what part of Arkansas?


----------



## Steve H (May 20, 2021)

indaswamp said:


> Thanks Ryan!
> 
> 
> Thanks Steve! Didn't know you lived in the south for a while...what part of Arkansas?


A few places. North Little Rock, up around Benton, and on Lake Conway. Loved it there. My backdoor was the lake. Some of the best crappie fishing I've ever had.


----------



## JLeonard (May 20, 2021)

Oh man that looks like a great plate. And I like the Idea of using the pizza boxes.
Jim


----------



## JLeonard (May 20, 2021)

Steve H said:


> A few places. North Little Rock, up around Benton, and on Lake Conway. Loved it there. My backdoor was the lake. Some of the best crappie fishing I've ever had.


You were living in the beginnings of the pretty part of Arkansas. Love the NW Arkansas area. 
Jim


----------



## SmokinAl (May 20, 2021)

Dang that looks good!
We love a good fish fry!
Al


----------



## Steve H (May 20, 2021)

JLeonard said:


> You were living in the beginnings of the pretty part of Arkansas. Love the NW Arkansas area.
> Jim



So do I. I haven't been back in that area since my mother passed away in 2018.


----------



## WaterinHoleBrew (May 22, 2021)

Looks so good, nice fish fry!  And none more deserving of it than those it was cooked for!


----------



## forktender (May 24, 2021)

GonnaSmoke said:


> Ain't that the truth. Some may argue otherwise, but there really is no better tasting fish swimming in fresh water....


I'm glad you clarified that at the end "fresh water" although whole fried Bream could be king in my opinion.
Ling Cod, rock fish/ bottom fish and Striped Bass are by far the best salt water fish to fry in my opinion they are all better than Haddock. Halibut is killer as well as long as you don't dry it out by over frying it.

But you're right, Crappie are hard to beat fried for fish tacos. Hell of a job on the fish fry, it all looks perfectly cooked.


----------



## GonnaSmoke (May 24, 2021)

forktender said:


> I'm glad you clarified that at the end "fresh water" although whole fried Bream could be king in my opinion.
> Ling Cod, rock fish/ bottom fish and Striped Bass are by far the best salt water fish to fry in my opinion they are all better than Hadock. Halibut is killer as well as long as you don't dry it out by over frying it.
> 
> But you're right, Crappie are hard to beat fried for fish tacos.


When it comes to the salt, I prefer flounder, but all those that you mentioned and a few more, are high on my list for sure.


----------



## forktender (May 24, 2021)

GonnaSmoke said:


> When it comes to the salt, I prefer flounder, but all those that you mentioned and a few more, are high on my list for sure.


We don't target flounder out here when we fish but do go after Sand dabs every now and then, and they are super, super good fried.


----------



## HalfSmoked (May 24, 2021)

Wow late on this dang I missed dinner just my luck.
A great looking cook Indi I could pull up a chair for one or more of those plates.

Warren


----------



## Winterrider (May 24, 2021)

Coin toss for me between crappie and walleye. Yours look fantastic and I enjoy that seasoning also.


----------

