PERCH BATTER MIX What do you guys use?

[rscotfish]

been eating perch for 35 years and ive had them all that i read on here but i did not see drakes batter mix its the best for deep frying and you can use it on anything from making chicken tenders to any veggie quick and easy just add water or beer dip and fry. thats great for bigger fish frys. but when its just me and the family i take saltines put them in the my little grinder crush them to a powder add them to a gallon ziplock then add garlic powder and lawrys seasoned salt to taste. then i coat with flower dip in a egg wash then the cracker crumbs and pan fry in my cast iron skillet. for a tarter sauce we use hellmans, pickle relish, enough mustard to add color, and leamon juice mix to taste dip and eat. i like andys cajun style and ive had golden dip youngs batter mix the batter mix you can only get from butch and dennys. but these 2 i like the best

[airshot]

I have had most of them on here, lets face it,I just like perch!! However my familys goto recipe is...keebler butter flavor club crackers put them in a processor and make crumbs, add 33% regular flour, add 3/4 cup seasoned italian bread crumbs, add spoonfull mrs Dash, and spoonfull lawrys seasoned salt. Also some garlic salt or other garlic flavoring.
Use egg wash and roll in mixture, fry with "canola" oil...here the trick is to get the oil hot enough... I start dropping filets at 375 degrees, nothing less and try to maintain this temp. Fish are cooked in just a minute. If any of you watch the cooking shows, you will find many fry to cold..at temps 350 and below the fish absorbs the oil and has an oily taste. At 375 or slightly higher they sear the outside instantly and do not absorb oil. Far less oily taste and the canola oil is much healthier for you ( tastes good also) This is by far the family favorite even for those who don't care for fish....

Airshot

[boatlimit]

either Andy's or Fryin' Magic ... just rinse dip and fry

[ebijack]

I use a 50/50 mix of Zatarain's lemon pepper fish fri batter and Cap'n crunch cereal
Smash up the Cap'n crunch cereal, ( it does not have to be put in a food processor)
The 1 gal container from Sam's club is about $6 for the lemon pepper fish-fri Zatarains, 2 boxes of Cap'n crunch makes a giant batch and is the 50/50 mix I make, stores very well in containers or ziplocks.
Add cayenne pepper to taste, approx: 1Tbl/4 cups of the mix
Dip in eggs/heavy cream, coat fish, put in ziplock baggies at least 30 minutes as any batter will stick much better, over night is best. Fry in clarified cooking oil at 360 to 375 degs.
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/zatarai...-lbs/127908.ip

[Hoss928]

It sounds like Andy's is more well known than I thought. I just randomly tried it one time. Looks like I stumbled on to a good thing.

[Labshavit]

I had a guy tell me 5 years ago to just rinse the fish off with water and use plain McCormick cracker crumbs with a little pepper, garlic salt and Old Bay seafood seasoning. I tried it and have never looked back. Best I
have ever had. Fish cooks in half the time. Have never served that people don't just rave about it.

[wnyguy]

Greetings from the eastern basin, this is a great thread btw.

Personally I like uncle bucks batter from bass pro shop. The original has just a little heat to it that is great. I have also mixed it with seasoned bread crumbs for a change of pace as well. Usually I rinse the perch in water, dip in milk and then dip in the batter. Let it rest 5 minutes or so before frying and the batter sticks better to the fish when you fry it. (general rule) Also I try the trick of letting the oil heat up between batches and the fish doesn't soak up as much oil that can happen if the oil gets too cool.

Can't wait to try some of these other recipes as well.

[ebijack]

For me, Ive found using any dry batter, if you get the fish or veggies battered, then let sit in the fridge from 30 min. to over night, this really helps the batter to stick much better. Also if your doing a large fish fry, you can get it all done the day or two before, then you only have to fry when everyone is there, more time to drink beer

[thehunter]

Couple more things a chef told me to do in preparing fillets:
1. If fillets frozen or in fridg, let them sit out to point of getting close to room temp! Especially if using a small fryer, cold fillets drop the temp of the oil - possibly to the point of causing fillets to absorb oil - don't take the chance!
2. Pat dry the fillets before the coating process begins. Just take most of the water off them.