Looking for some good advice on frying fresh caught fish at the lake or when you get back home. My father in law likes to soak them overnight in beer and then coat them with cornmeal right before frying them. A friend likes to rub mustard on them and then coat them with cornmeal before frying them.
My Dad and grandfather fried catfish with hog lard in an iron pot over coals from the camp fire before finally investing in a Coleman stove when I was about 6 or 7. According to Dad, after cleaning fish you only rinse lightly with fresh water then salt & pepper. Let sit for 15-20 minutes. He claims the salt on the freshly cleaned fish somehow makes them slimy enough to keep the cornmeal on (we're talkin bout fresh-caught fish out of the water only 2 or 3 hours). He doesn't use egg whites or mustard unless the fish have been washed too much or have been frozen, and his fried fish have always been perfect. Peanut oil is best, imo. Keepin the grease hot is essential. I usually use eggwhites though, mustard adds a nice flavor. Zatarain's seasoned fish fry with lemon is my favorite. We always brought a bag of potatos and Dad would cut/fry them in thin slices, maybe a little thicker than Zapps. The GRAB stew story: I was probly bout 8 or 9 when we spent a weekend at my grandfather's camp on Blind River with my Dad and a few uncles/cousins (no women, of course). It's at about 30.22981, -90.64233 (on the southeast corner of Alligator Bayou/Blind River), hasn't been habitable since the '83 flood (right around the corner from Blind River Bar). Anyway, we only brought grease/cornmeal for the fish and chicken gizards for bait. Turns out that the fish didn't bite as expected. We caught a few bream with worms from the woods and used them as bait in some crab pots. By the end of the second day stomach growling could be heard frequently. The geniuses ended up taking the gizzards off the trot-line and cooking them in a stew with about a dozen crabs. I'm sure I can dig up the recipe if anyone is interested.
Beer and seafood go together as a marinade. I do the same with shrimp. Tried a dark beer once and it didn't work too well. I use Miller Lite or Coors Lite.
corn flour works best. its more coarse than flour. or if you have zatarains there, its the same thing.
Seasoning + Butter + Frying Pan or Seasoning + Lemon + Onion + Butter + Aluminum Foil + Grill\Oven or Seasoning + Cornmeal + Oil + Frying Pan It's pretty hard to mess up fresh fish. Just don't get too fancy.
probably the biggest mistake with all seafood. less than 5 mins and the fish is likely done. make sure to get the oil to 350 before cooking and making sure its reheated back to 350 for each batch before adding anymore. use a thermometer.
that goes with anything fried usually since the heat drops far too much if you put too much. which equals non-crispy, soggy fish=no good. of course with french fries i dont give a shiit and im impatient so i can overload them and cause grease fires.
