my favorite way to do panfish
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needed:
cajun batter bowl
1 cup corn starch
1 cup masa (corn flour)
deep fryer or cast iron skillet and oil
OLD BAY seasoning
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use boneless skinless fillets of any panfish, small walleye, bass, etc. thin fillets are the key here. if you are an eat the skin person, by all means, scale and wash your fish! i like to remove the mudline from any fish bigger than about 7'' long. it's the red/brown lateral line that give the fish an off flavor.
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clean and wash your fish. soak in salt water if you wish. fresh caught, cleaned and washed will taste the best.
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drain the washed fillets. water is not your friend this time. use a sieve/collander/etc. take the extra few minutes, it's worth it.
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the key to this is the cajun batter bowl. mine came from G. Mt years ago. well worth the $ $ $. in one half of the bowl add one cup corn starch and one cup masa. masa is a fine ground corn flour. usually used for tortillias. available in most grocery stores.
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mix well. add some fillets. close the bowl and gently shake or swirl to coat. flip the bowl and shake to remove the excess mixture from the fillet. do this a couple of times. leave the fillets on the divider. if they moisten up, just flip and shake again.
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carefully, drop into oil that has been heated to 375-400 degrees. don't crowd the pan or fryer. don't let the oil drop below 350 degrees if you can help it. fast cooking is what you're after. when the fillet floats, get it out of the oil to drain. a cookie sheet covered with old newspaper and a single layer of paper towel on top works great.
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as fast as possable, sprinkle well with the Old Bay seasoning. the redder the better. Old Bay is available in most grocery stores.
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with the thin dry coating and hot oil you get mainly fish. small perch curl into popcorn shrimp shaped pieces in seconds in the deep fryer. larger chunks take a bit more but rarely over a minute each.
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larger fillets will work with this recepie BUT - they tend to crack the coating and the juices run out. general rule of thumb here is if it's bigger than a playing card and more than 1/4 inch thick, cut it down in size.
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standard fare with this is home made coleslaw using mayo and Old Bay seasoning. thick crusty bread and butter. a few shakes of chipolte sauce and some cold brewskies. baked beans are never out of place. if you want french fries, sprinkle with Old Bay too. no catsup on the fish! ! ! ! cocktail sauce works well. home made tarter sauce with dill relish instead of sweet relish is better.
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enjoy
