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I stalled on posting this for like two weeks because I couldn't come up with a good joke for the title. Anyway, this NICSA is about foods we hate, and I picked my eternal nemesis, catfish. I'd never had catfish I'd liked, probably by virtue of having had a bad experience when I was like 17 and having refused to order it since. But I decided I would go ahead and try my hand at it. Basically all I knew coming in was that catfish was a fairly flavor light fish, and that people liked to fry it. What I didn't realize was that it actually shows up in a bunch of different cultures, including places like Bangladesh and Hungary. Or that there's a Vietnamese catfish that's not a catfish at all. So the first step is to buy way too much catfish and have to make two different recipes. When I went on my Japanese food kick a while back, I saw a recipe for Catfish Kabayaki and since I like everything I've made from just one cookbook that I've made, *and* it wasn't a southern fried recipe (which was all I could find at first), I figured we'd start with that. I pretty much followed the recipe exactly, but I've documented the steps Step 0: Make some rice. I figure you already know how to do this. Step 1, get your fish out, cut into four half sized filets.  Get your salt, pepper and flour out, you're not gonna need a lot of any of these.  Liberally salt and pepper the fish  Add a little bit of flour  On a pan over medium heat, using a little bit of oil fry your fish  Realize you haven't pre-prepared the sauce and scramble to assemble the ingredients  Flip your fish once the bottom is nice and brown  Mix your sauce in a side bowl  Realize you also forgot to take a picture of the scallions, so do so now, in case your audience doesn't know what they look like, and will wonder what the little green things on your fish are at the end.  Once the fish is ready, add the sauce, and let it thicken for a bit  Spoon the sauce over the fish as it thickens, to really get that flavor in there. Then pull out the fish, garnish with the scallions and serve over rice. (Not pictured, the rice)  Verdict: 10/10, would make again. Considering how few ingredients went in, it was startlingly good. Of course when I was done, I still had a bunch of catfish. So I decided I'd fry it, and make sandwiches. I vaguely followed this serious eats recipe for the frying part, but I didn't have the components for a slaw and didn't feel like I needed them, since I had leftover garlic mayo and some pretty good looking tomatoes. First step first: Assemble your breading ingredients. For the inner layer, salt, pepper and curry powder (I used garam massala, you do you)  Get a bunch on the fish (No before pictures this time)  Get your pan rippling hot, with a bunch of oil, for frying. While you're doing that prep your flour for dredging  Then dredge the fish and add it straight to the hot oil. Don't be like me, use tongs, avoid easy to avoid burns.  While the fish is frying, slice your tomatoes and pull out the home-made garlic mayo from earlier in the week. (If you don't make garlic mayo, you should, its amazing)   Flip the fish, then get out your burger buns, and toast them. I used a toaster, but they'd probably be better grilled.  When its ready, transfer the fish to a paper towel lined plate  Then, assemble your sandwiches  Serve with whatever side veggie you want, or fries. I had leftover carrot salad so we had that. Verdict: Fried fish is good. Which was surprising to me, because i remembered fried catfish having a wholly unpleasant texture. It turns out I like catfish, and will likely make it again.
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Apr 24, 2019 00:03
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 15:17 |
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Some good looking fish there! I'm a fan of creole spice on fried catfish, Tony Chachere is good stuff for a commercial mix.
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Apr 24, 2019 04:41
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This right here is exactly what I was hoping for. Getting people to challenge their expectations, and find new favorites!
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Apr 24, 2019 13:23
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Good fish, well done for trying something you hate, and I’m glad it turned out well!
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Apr 24, 2019 19:23
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