Catfish is one of the most popular fresh water fish not only to catch, but to eat as well. Even people that do not usually enjoy the taste of fish will generally like eating catfish because it doesn’t have the traditional “fishy” taste that many others do. Additionally, in spite of its reputation for being difficult to clean and prepare, catfish is not difficult to prepare at all if you know what you are doing. In fact, the world record time for cleaning a catfish is just over 11 seconds!
Once the catfish is cleaned, you have to decide what kind of dish to prepare. Considering that there are literally hundreds of catfish recipes available, this may take a while! Catfish has been a delicacy in the southern United States ever since people have fished there so many catfish recipes originate from the South.
The most popular ways to prepare catfish are pan-frying, deep-frying, or broiling. Of course, there are other ways to cook catfish and hundreds of different recipes for each way to cook them as well. Here are some general instructions on how to cook catfish using these methods quickly and easily.
Pan-frying catfish consists of simply cooking the catfish in a pan on your stove top. Simply preheat the pan at medium-high with a small amount of oil or butter. Lay the catfish fillets in the pan when it has reached optimal temperature. Once it looks as if the first side is done – which should take only five or six minutes – flip them over using a spatula or tongs and cook the other side. You should only flip once and never more than twice.
Deep-frying catfish is a southern specialty. This works best if you cut each catfish fillet in half, cross-wise. In a small dish, combine one half cup of cornmeal, black pepper, and salt. Pull the partial fillets through the mixture and pat down to make sure that it clings. Making sure that your oil is hot enough – about 370 degrees will do – drop the fillets in from five to ten minutes or until lightly brown and crispy. Deep-fried catfish is very good served with cold slaw, tartar sauce, and hush puppies.
To broil catfish, melt 1/3 teaspoon of butter in a broiler pan. You may substitute vegetable cooking spray as well. Preheat the pan for about five minutes. While it is preheating, combine one teaspoon of liquid smoke, 1˝ teaspoon of lemon juice, and 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder in a bowl. A variation of this can be accomplished by adding a tablespoon of soy sauce. Place the catfish fillets inside the broiler pan and brush the basting sauce over them as they broil three inches from the heat source. After five to seven minutes the catfish should easily flake, meaning that they are ready to eat.