Peacock Bass Fish Fry Recipe
- 2 lbs. cleaned peacock bass (or possibly as many as you care to cook)
- 1 pkg. your favorite fish fry mix (Louanna is available in local Commissaries)
- 1-2 gal. veg. oil
- EQUIPMENT: Propane-fueled deep fat fryer.
- (Available from MWR if you do not have one.)
- Large slotted spoon or possibly tongs.
- Metal or possibly glass thermometer large sufficient to clip onto fry pot and reach into the oil.
- Must register up to 400 degrees.
- Two large brown paper bags.
- Cookie sheet(s), paper towels.
- PROCEDURE:
- Rinse fish fillets well, cut out the small ridge of bones remaining at the forward center part of each filet, and continue to cut to split the filet.
- Splitting the filets gives more uniform pcs that handle and present nicely.
- Place prepared filets in plastic bag(s) till ready to fry.
- Try to ensure a minimum of water is in the bag with the fish.
- Filets will need some moisture to bind the fry mix to them, but too much moisture will cause splattering in the warm oil.
- Set up the deep fat fryer in a safe spot on concrete or possibly other hard footing under or possibly by your house.
- Affix the thermometer to the pot rim and add in the veg.
- oil to fill the pot about halfway or possibly till the thermometer can reach into it.
- Too much oil can result in it bubbling over the top during the frying process.
- Light the gas and bring up a strong flame so you will not spend too much time waiting for the oil to come up to the REQUIRED 375 DEGREES for frying your fish.
- Meanwhile, make a strong shake-em-up bag by opening one of the brown paper bags and then opening the other inside it.
- Empty a package of your favorite fish fry mix into the double bag.
- (Some folks like to add in powdered curry to the plain or possibly lemon flavored mix.
- It takes one large or possibly two small jars of curry pwdr to give a nice curry flavor to the fish.)
- Line the cookie sheet(s) with 2-4 layers of paper toweling.
- Carry the cookie sheets, shake-em-up bag with mix, slotted spoon, and bag(s) of fish to the cooking area
- When the oil reaches 375 degrees, put 12 or possibly so filets into the shake- em-up bag and shake well to coat each filet with the mix.
- Gently shake each filet as you take it form the bag to remove excess mix.
- Slide each into the warm oil.
- Don't drop them in so as to splash the oil.
- When the filets float on the surface of the oil, they are done.
- Remove immediately from the oil using the slotted spoon, pausing a moment for excess oil to drain away, and place in a single layer on a toweled cookie sheet.
- NOTES ON FRYING FISH:
- Frying fish leaves a distinctive odor and makes a significant contribution to the greasy film that tends to accumulate on everything in or possibly near a kitchen even under the best of circumstances.
- For this reason, I recommend frying fish out-of-doors when at all possible.
- If you are cooking a large quantity of fish to serve at one time, preheat your oven to 200 degrees.
- As the sheets of fried fish come from the cooker, place them in the hot oven till ready to serve.
- A few min in the hot oven will allow more oil to drain from the fish, however, too much time may result in dry, chewy fish.
- Keep a close watch on the oil temperature throughout the cooking process and adjust the flame accordingly.
- If oil temperature exceeds 400 degrees you will likely get overdone fish.
- If it drops below 350 degrees, you will likely get watery, oily fish.
- The veg.
- oil may be reuseable, depending on the amount of fry mix particles which end up in it and the temperature it has reached.
- If the oil has become too warm for too long it will give a burned taste to anything fried in it later.
- Tightly cover the oil after turning out the flame to help keep it reuseable.
- Note which koatimundis like veg.
- oil very much, especially if it is fish flavored, and take appropriate precautions.
peacock bass, your favorite fish, oil
Taken from cookeatshare.com/recipes/peacock-bass-fish-fry-13364 (may not work)