[Guest]

What is your favortie way to cook a catfish ? I also have a question about filleting them..After I skin the cats there is a thin layer of white skin Should i be cutting this off also or does it matter ?

 

[afishman]

get some italian bread crumbs. scramble a couple of eggs take a cookie sheet lined with foil and put a couple pats of butter on it dip the fillets into the egg wash then roll fillets in the breadcrumbs and put on cookie sheet cook at 350 for about 20 minutes. the white stuff is fine. hope this helps

 

[roadkill]

the white "under coat" is fine after cooking you wont even know it is there

after i skin my cats (yes there is more than one way) i cut the meat away from the bones (kinda filet) then i cut the pieces into smaller even sized pieces like chicken fingers or smaller like nuggets

then i roll or shake them in a seasoned flour (salt and peper or a comercial mix) to dry the surface then i dip in scrambled egg and roll in a heavyer bread crumb coating drop in hot oil and cook till just done thru

one trick when deep frying is to use a larger pot of oil or do less fish at a time so the oil doesnt cool to much from adding the fish

also after cutting up the fish into chunks or strips i like to soak them for 1/2 hour or more in milk especialy if they got a bit bloody this seems to smooth out the flavor

if your cats arnt that big you might try this methode for cleaning and skining small cats in 1 shot

http://www.munising.com/upfishing/cleaning_catfish.html

 

[fishon]

I've cleaned hundreds of bullheads that way, RK, and though you lose the belly meat, you don't rupture the sack of bile that contaminates the fish. Most of the guts come out with the head. I would Skin them first, though, with the skinning pliers, while able to hold onto the head, before breaking it's neck.

 

[roadkill]

they say with a bit of practice you can skin it and rip the guts out at the same time i dont have the hang of it yet

 

[VolFan]

To skin and gut smaller ones, I make a cut through the skin at the throat area and then bend the head back, beaking the neck and then pull towards the tail. With some practice, everything except the bones comes off in on piece. This is alot like skinning a squirrel (yes, I'm from the South, we eat squirrels). I like to cut it in thin strips, soak them in buttermilk with a little tabasco in a ziploc for about 30 min and then shake in seasoned cornmeal in another ziploc and fry or bake. That makes a great little thin, crisp coating with a little heat to it, depending on how much tabasco you use. And you only get the fryer dirty! I save the beer to drink. This, some slaw and hush puppies and you're set. Oh and Mmmmmm...beer.