Catfish and lobsters have more in common than you may realize. At one time, they were both considered trash fish. Not worth keeping. If you could get your hands on some of my crispy Southern Fried Catfish, you’d wonder what in the world folks were thinking when they considered catfish not fittin’ to eat.
Some folks notice a muddy flavor with catfish. A sure fire way to combat that is to marinate the fish in buttermilk. The same goes for removing gaminess from wild game. I marinate catfish for at least an hour but no more than four. Some folks marinate overnight which seems like a long time to have tender fish exposed to the acid in buttermilk.
For breading, I use a combination of corn meal and self-rising flour. I recommend self-rising over all-purpose flour because the baking powder in self-rising helps achieve a crispy coating. Crispy is good. Crispy is very good.
It’s important to cut catfish into pieces about the width and length of two fingers.
Human fingers.
Pieces of fish much larger need to cook so long to get the insides done that the breading will overcook and taste bitter. That will mess up your fish and hurt your feelings.
Ain’t nobody got time for that.
When you remove your perfectly golden brown, crispy catfish from the hot oil, don’t plop it down on a paper towel covered platter. The underside will get a little soggy. It’s best to drain it on a cooling rack that’s placed over a baking sheet. Everybody stays crispy. Crispy is good. Crispy is very good.
If you love fried fish and have prefer perch to catfish, you need to check out this recipe for Fried Perch
The technically correct temperature for deep frying fish is 350 degrees. You can use a cooking thermometer to gauge the exact moment your cooking oil reaches that temperature. Or, you can follow in the footsteps of my grandparents who fished in creeks and rivers, caught catfish, skinned it, and immediately cooked it on the creek bank. I can assure you they didn’t have such fancy gadgets as cooking thermometers. Granny cooked by intuition.
She taught me to test the hot oil by dipping a little corner of whatever I was frying into the hot grease.
I’ll attempt to correctly paraphrase Granny’s cooking lesson about deep frying.
If the grease is lazy ’bout bubblin’ up, it ain’t hot enough. If it goes to a-smokin’ and spits and spatters, then you’ve done let it git too hot. You need to be somewhere betwixt and between. You want a good steady fry, but you don’t want your breading to go to brownin’ as soon as you drop it in.”
There’s not any thing I can add to what she taught me.
By the way, you’re going to need some hushpuppies with your Southern Fried Catfish.
Y’all come see us!
Southern Fried Catfish
yield: 3 to 4 servings (except in my family you can cut the number of servings in half)
Fried foods are not greasy if they’re cooked right. Properly cooked fried catfish will have a crunchy, not soggy, breading and tender, creamy meat. To ensure the breading stays crispy after cooking, place the fish on a cooling rack instead of paper towels. Soaking in buttermilk takes away any hint of a muddy flavor that’s sometimes found in catfish.
1 pound catfish fillets
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups medium ground corn meal
1/2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
Cut the catfish into portions about the width and length of two fingers (human fingers, that is). Place in a resealable disposable plastic bag. Add buttermilk. Close bag, removing as much air as possible. Gently turn the bag several times to coat the fish. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour and as long as four hours.
Add cornmeal, flour, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, and cayenne pepper to a pie pan or similar size dish with a raised edge. Stir together dry ingredients.
In a large cast iron skillet, heat 1 1/2 to 2 inches of cooking oil to 350 degrees.
While the oil is heating, remove catfish pieces from buttermilk and dredge each piece in the breading. Set aside.
When the oil is hot enough, work in batches and drop a few pieces of fish in the hot oil. Let cook for 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown on one side. Flip and repeat on the other side. Drain on a rack when the fish is cooked.
Repeat with remaining fish. Don’t crowd the pan when cooking.
Serve with lemon and cocktail sauce, ketchup, Comeback Sauce, or tartar sauce.
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Southern Fried Catfish
Ingredients
- 1 pound catfish fillets
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 cups medium ground corn meal
- 1/2 cups self-rising flour
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Cut the catfish into portions about the width and length of two fingers (human fingers, that is). Place in a resealable disposable plastic bag. Add buttermilk. Close bag, removing as much air as possible. Gently turn the bag several times to coat the fish. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour and as long as four hours.
- Add cornmeal, flour, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, and cayenne pepper to a pie pan or similar size dish with a raised edge. Stir together dry ingredients.
- In a large cast iron skillet, heat 1 1/2 to 2 inches of cooking oil to 350 degrees.
- While the oil is heating, remove catfish pieces from buttermilk and dredge each piece in the breading. Set aside.
- When oil is hot enough, work in batches and drop a few pieces of fish in the hot oil. Let cook for 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown on one side. Flip and repeat on the other side. Drain on a rack when the fish is cooked.
- Repeat with remaining fish. Don't crowd the pan when cooking.
- Serve with lemon and cocktail sauce, ketchup, Comeback Sauce, or tartar sauce.
Tynia says
Ma’am, that quote from your grandma is about the best thing I have ever read on a food blog. And that’s pretty much what my grandma taught me about frying food as well. I will admit that I have turned to thermometers for recipe testing but I still can “feel” it in the kitchen. Thank you for sharing!
Jackie Garvin says
Tania,
Wisdom imparted from Grannies is the best kind of wisdom…..kitchen or otherwise. Thanks for stopping by. We sure love it when you visit.
Faye Reynolds says
Jackie my best friend was 100% Cajun and the way she marinated her catfish was with Mustard (like French’s mustard) She did not rinse it off and you don’t taste it once it’s fried. She said often the reason it tastes real fishy is because it wasn’t fileted’properly.
Jackie Garvin says
Great tip! Thanks for sharing.