Any suggestions for your favorite type of coating or breading on pan fried fish fillets?
My home cooked favorite is made from crushed Saltine crackers with added salt seasoning. This takes some fresh egg batter to make it stick to the fish and therefore doesn't come with on the canoe trips. I've tried the packaged Shorelunch brand. The stuff I bought makes a sticky paste and I'm running to the lake to rinse between skillets.  Must be a better way. A favorite of mine is the thin coating that is served on a restaurant perch fry. Does anyone know of a grocery store brand name for this?
-YB

The simplest breading I use (not really my favorite but I use it when camping) is white or yellow cornmeal. You can season it anyway you like. Cajun pepper maintains flavor through the frying pretty well. Just roll damp fillets in the seasoned cornmeal and fry. Bon Appetite!

Always make our own. 3 equal parts of yellow corn meal, fryin' magic and corn flake crumbs. Seasoned any way you like or as is, but I usually toss in some lawry's, garlic salt and fresh cracked black pepper. We also take a few seasonings with like cajun and seasoned pepper, lemon pepper, etc. This year we're taking one of those 2 sided mesh racks for grilling fish over a fire and that won't use the breading, just a little squeeze butter and some seasoning. Yum!

Cheers,

q_v

At home it is usually some form of beer batter with Ritz or Cornflakes.

On the trail I use a mix of regular shore luch and cajun shore lunch with some crushed corn flakes.  We usually just throw semi damp fillets and cheeks in a zip lock with the batter mix and shake it up then dump in some hot peanut oil.  

can't wait 11 days and counting.  

Anyone ever tried pancake batter?  I haven't but I've heard some say it's the best...

I never mess around with breading mix anymore.  It's messy and just makes for more effort to cook and clean and adds (unneccesary) calories.  

I just season the fillets with either cajun seasoning (Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic is awesome), lemon pepper, or dill and fry them in a 50/50 blend of squeeze margarine and oil.  You use a lot less oil/margarine this way, too.

The hidden benefit is that you don't pack the weight or bulk of breading mix and the extra oil that it consumes.  Breadings soak up a LOT of oil and you need more in the pan to cook with so there's more waste.  Try both methods side by side and see how much less oil you use.  I just got off a trip where we had fried fish for 2 people for 2 nights, plus a few other miscelleneous uses of the oil.  I used less than a cup of oil total on the trip.  Add in the half a cup of squeeze margarine and it's still less than most would use for a single fish fry using breading.

Ever since the early '90's when one of our guys brought along a 'special' breader he had found down in North Carolina, we've been bringing a breader called "Mildly Hot Breader" from House-Autry Mills.


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The term "Mildly Hot" is relative, of course, to your personal tastes, but we like to blend it in a 50/50 mixture with the commonly found "Shore Lunch" that one can buy nearly anywhere for around $2 to $2.50.  The mixture allows for just the right amount of flavoring without being too hot or too bland.  We really enjoy it.  There really is no need for other spices like Lawry's or even salt & pepper.

The breader has a very fine texture that literally incorporates itself right into the fillet.  It's not heavy at all.  

Like any breader, just mix the two in a plastic bag, put the fillets in the bag... and shake.  Cook over a slightly-above-medium heat in a pan with just a quarter inch of vegetable oil.  No need to go heavy on the oil.  The fillets will cook just fine.

Enjoy!

Check ou this recipe for trout shore lunch... (actually - as there's a little bit of prep it's likely better as dinner)...

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Make that site...

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[quote author=qb link=1084567488/0#7 date=1099279638]Check ou this recipe for trout shore lunch... (actually - as there's a little bit of prep it's likely better as dinner)...

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My first poke on the original link led me to this gif:
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If memory serves, I'm assuming it represents levels of mercury in the food chain. My question is, can anyone compare ppm to current consumption advisories in the BW/Q?

Answers could go anywhere... (Guesses on future advisories probably belong in the   (You need to Login or Register form.) I researched this years ago and assumed a correlation with the DNR's Lake Finder...

Never saw this page:
  (You need to Login or Register but I got the drift...

Our guess at the time was the MNR guidelines could be extrapolated for it's neighbor but I could only find general guidelines for Q so we purposefully erred on the side of caution. Yum-yum.

Hi DB,

I have no clue where that site came - I guess that's why I have someone else do my computer stuff. Add the .htm and it's a lot more appetizing!

Anyway, there's a reference book out regarding levels of toxins etc in game fish in Ontario. I'm pretty sure Quetico lakes are included. As far as I recall most lakes are. I've got a copy up at our camp HQ, but none with me right now.

I'm pretty sure it's issued by the MNR. I'll get it & also see if there's an on-line reference as well.

Here is   (You need to Login or Register info.