Cornmeal Crusted Fish
Frozen fish fillets often go on sale at the supermarket, but they can be a pain to cook because of how much water they retain. After thawing them completely you still really have to pat them dry if you want to do anything but poach them. In a way this is a shame, because people are more likely to go for the boxes of battered fish sticks instead of making it from scratch. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with all of these products, but they’re limited in variety.
I like the crunchy, earthy sweetness of cornmeal when it comes to battering fish. I keep a jar of Old Bay seasoning around for just this purpose. This is incredibly difficult to find in Montreal (I believe I picked it up at the Atwater market), but provides a certain flavor from several spices I generally don’t keep on hand, like celery seed. With an extra pinch of sugar, even tilapia is sort of reminiscent of a crab cake. Not a particularly good one, mind you, but better than tilapia itself can really promise to wow you. I used cod in this preparation, but any white fish, or even catfish, trout, etc. fillets will do.
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 egg plus 2 tablespoons milk, beaten
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 4 five-six ounce skinless, boneless fish fillets
- salt and pepper
- Prepare three dishes, one with the flour, one with the egg mixed with the milk, and another with the cornmeal seasoned with the Old Bay seasoning and sugar.
- heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. When it begins to shimmer, season two fillets with salt and pepper, then bread them by pressing into the flour, shaking off the excess, coating with the egg, letting the excess drip off, then finally, pressing into the cornmeal mixture.
- Pan fry the fillets until crunchy and golden brown, about 3-4 minutes per side, then transfer to a wire rack while repeating the same procedure for the other fillets.
Pictured with wilted swiss chard and lemon-basil mashed potatoes.