How To Fry Fish

Gather The Following:

• Fresh Fish (Scaled and cleaned — fillet if desired. I mostly use croaker, spot, bream, crappie, catfish, striper, or bass)
• A large bowl containing a generous amount of self-rising flour
• Salt
• Pepper
• Vegetable Oil (or whatever type you use for frying)
• Colander
• Large frying pan
• Tongs
• Fork
• Knife
• Platter lined with newspaper covered with clean paper towels

Clean the fish. My hubby does this part. I always check behind him as I do the final washing. To do the final checks, if it's whole fish, run a knife or a fish scaler over the entire fish to make sure all scales are removed. You may want to do this outside because the scales do get to flying.

Check the fish's insides and make sure all internals have been removed. With your knife, make horizontal scores across each fish's body, if you wish. If it's filleted fish, just make certain to cut away any reddish-colored meat (more prominent on catfish, which we always fillet, and the taste is entirely too strong). Also with fillets, try to cut into equal sizes for even cooking.It's important not to overcook. The fish are done when they are golden brown and a fork will easily go through the meat down to the main bone.

Do the final wash and rinse and place the pieces in the colander all around its sides so you can get to all surfaces of the fish with the salt and pepper. Let drain for two or three minutes, first. Season to taste. Turn over and do the same for the other sides of the fish.

Pour oil in the pan to about half way up its sides. Turn the heat to medium high. On my stove, that's about an eight.

Let the oil heat until a small amount of flour sprinkled into it starts to sizzle immediately. It's ready then, but if you see that it's going to get hotter than that, turn the heat down at one-eighths intervals as you are cooking.

Begin to roll your fish in the flour. Place the floured fish side by side in the hot grease.

Notice the fins on the fish. If they are turning slightly brown, turn each fish over. Use the tongs; sticking a fork in them to do this will release their juices. Turning should happen pretty quickly — within two to five minutes — usually around three minutes. Once turned, you can tell by the cooked side whether it's the color you want. If not, let the other side cook two to five minutes, then turn once more for final browning.

It's important not to overcook. The fish are done when they are golden brown and a fork will easily go through the meat down to the main bone. So gauge by brownness and check with a fork at the thickest part (trying not to check before you are pretty certain they are going to be done). With fillets, guage by brownness (if they start floating in the oil, it means they are done and take them up right away -- check out the Hot! tip later in this how-to article). Place your cooked fish to drain a minute or two on your platter lined with paper towels.

Transfer to a pretty dish, and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Image provided by Linda Tieu