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Makes:
Prep Time:
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Ready In:
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Ingredients
Catfish fillets - 3 to 4 pieces per person
1 cup yellow corn meal
2 tsp Season-All or other Cajun Spice
black pepper to taste
Canola or peanut oil
Directions
A deep fat fryer is preferable however a deep frying pan or cast iron like the one for making fried chicken will work just as well. You can use fresh catfish fillets hooked on your pole that morning or you can use the farm raised variety available in the supermarket meat or freezer section. The secret to fried catfish is cooking it at just the right temperature to seal in the moisture and flavor. When
you first drop it into the grease you want to seal it and then cook it. Rinse the fillets thoroughly and then pat dry with a paper towel. If using fresh catfish, skin the catfish and then wash thoroughly. Make sure to remove any dark skin on the underneath of the fillet. If not removed, this skin will usually give catfish a bad "mud" taste. Pat dry with a paper towel.
Old-timers add the seasoned salt and pepper to the cornmeal. (Some newer cooks sprinkle the seasonings directly on the fish and just roll in the cornmeal.)Roll the fresh, catfish fillets in the seasoned mixture of corn meal. A quick clean way to coat the fish in the corn meal seasoned mixture is to place it in a zip lock plastic or paper bag and just shake the bag. Drop into deep fryer at 325 degrees until it turns golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove and drain onto a paper towel. Serve with greens, cole slaw and hush puppies. See the hush puppies recipe on our website.
