Catfish batter help?

Rosyrain

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16 Nov 2014
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Location
Washington, USA
I was the lucky recipient of 2 pounds of free catfish fillets, but have never cooked this kind of fish before. I have had it several times and like it battered and fried. Does anyone have a good batter recipe you can share with me? I have also heard that you are supposed to soak it in buttermilk for a while? Please help!
 
If your going to batter and deep fry it pass the fish in goujon sized pieces through seasoned flour then into the batter ,which you make to a paste with self raising flour and beer/iced water and a splash of vinegar ,then deep fry at 180 degrees c
Then drain onto kitchen paper
 
Ingredients
4-6 catfish fillets, about 1-2 pounds
1 cup milk or buttermilk
Salt
3/4 cup fine cornmeal (do not use coarsely ground cornmeal)
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
Oil for frying (use peanut oil if you can)

Method
  1. In a heavy frying pan, pour enough oil to come 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan. Turn the heat to medium-high. Turn your oven to 200° and lay a cookie sheet inside. Place a wire rack on top of the cookie sheet.
  2. While the oil is heating, soak the catfish in the milk or buttermilk. Mix the cornmeal, flour and spices together. (Or substitute your favorite seasoning instead.) Let the oil reach 350 degrees — a good test is to flick a little of the dry breading into the oil, and if it sizzles at once, you're good to go.
  3. Once the oil is hot, sprinkle the catfish fillets with salt and dredge them into the breading. Shake off the excess and gently lay into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, about 2-4 minutes, depending on how thick the fillet is. Use a metal spatula and gently turn the fish over and cook for another 2-4 minutes. Cast iron heats up and stays hot, so monitor the heat as you fry; you may need to lower the heat on the burner at some point.
  4. Once the fish is ready, move it to the oven while you cook the rest of the catfish. Keeping the fried catfish warm in the oven will help keep it crispy. When they're all done, serve at once with your favorite hot sauce, coleslaw and some hush puppies.

www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/fried_catfish/
 
Good one, @classic33. I think this is the kind of recipe @Rosyrain was referring to. A Southern style dish often served with Hushpuppies! No, not the footwear. The footwear is named after the dish! I only learned this today:
The Hush Puppies name and mascot were coined by the brand's first sales manager, James Gaylord Muir. Initially, the company's advertising agencyrecommended naming the product "Lasers". Then, on a selling trip to the southeastern United States, Muir dined with one of his regional salesmen and the meal included hush puppies, traditional fried southern cornballs. When Muir asked about the origin of the name, he was told that farmers threw hush puppies at the hounds to "quiet their barking dogs." Muir saw a connection to his new product. "Barking dogs" in the vernacular of the day was an idiom for sore feet. Muir surmised his new shoes were so comfortable that they could "quiet barking dogs."[2]
 
Ingredients
4-6 catfish fillets, about 1-2 pounds
1 cup milk or buttermilk
Salt
3/4 cup fine cornmeal (do not use coarsely ground cornmeal)
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
Oil for frying (use peanut oil if you can)

Method
  1. In a heavy frying pan, pour enough oil to come 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan. Turn the heat to medium-high. Turn your oven to 200° and lay a cookie sheet inside. Place a wire rack on top of the cookie sheet.
  2. While the oil is heating, soak the catfish in the milk or buttermilk. Mix the cornmeal, flour and spices together. (Or substitute your favorite seasoning instead.) Let the oil reach 350 degrees — a good test is to flick a little of the dry breading into the oil, and if it sizzles at once, you're good to go.
  3. Once the oil is hot, sprinkle the catfish fillets with salt and dredge them into the breading. Shake off the excess and gently lay into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, about 2-4 minutes, depending on how thick the fillet is. Use a metal spatula and gently turn the fish over and cook for another 2-4 minutes. Cast iron heats up and stays hot, so monitor the heat as you fry; you may need to lower the heat on the burner at some point.
  4. Once the fish is ready, move it to the oven while you cook the rest of the catfish. Keeping the fried catfish warm in the oven will help keep it crispy. When they're all done, serve at once with your favorite hot sauce, coleslaw and some hush puppies.

www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/fried_catfish/

Yup, this is the kind of recipe I was looking for...southern style batter. I really do not like hushpuppies so I will not be making those to go with the meal. I like to make a side of fried potatoes to go with my fish. I had catfish when I lived in the south and have not had it again until recently. It is not very popular up here in the Pacific Northwest.
 
Our recipe for catfish filet is the simple garlic and soy sauce plus a sprinkling of ground pepper. The crushed garlic is mixed wth the soy sauce that would serve as sort of marinade for the catfish. After 30 minutes, you can fry it in low fire and increase the heat a few minutes before harvesting from the pan. It is also okay if you want to roll it in corn starch or flour before fryintg to give it a breaded taste. But we don't like it breaded because our special dip gives it more flavor when not breaded. The dip is a mix of ketchup, hot sauce, drops of oyster sauce and a sprinkling of sugar.
 
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