I had little knowledge of southern food in my childhood. The best part of my childhood was spent growing up in New York City and that didn’t lend itself to much in the way of a fried catfish. I had my first encounter with the delights from south of the Mason-Dixon line when my Dad, sister and I took a road trip to Florida when I was about 6 years old.
Heading south we stopped to visit a friend of my Father’s and ate at a little roadside restaurant. I don’t remember what the place was named but I do remember the crunch of the crust and the realization that fish could also be this.
In a Japanese household you do eat a great deal of sea bounty but that crackling, spicy, crunchy yet juicy wonder that is a plate of southern fried catfish? No indeed! That single plate haunted my dreams for years.
As an adult I tried and tried and tried some more to recreate that masterpiece only to fail time and time again. There were endless experiments with buttermilk and eggs and ratios of flour types…. Nothing worked. It wasn’t that the fish wasn’t tasty , it just somehow couldn’t replicate the texture or flavor of my memory. I started to chalk it up to the amplification of nostalgia when I came across an unassuming paperback cookbook at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck.
The good folks at the best bookshop ever know all about my oddball habits. I come in every week and stay in the cookbook section. I never leave without a cookbook and prefer ones that are either offbeat, regional (especially places I haven’t cooked any food from before) and or promote greater representation of ethnic and racial diversity. So when dear Nicole (The Keeper of the Golden keys aka manager) showed me “I Heart Soul Food” by Rosie Mayes, I couldn’t resist.
Sailing home on a cloud of excitement and loaded down with fresh catfish from Adam’s Fair acre Market, I rolled up my sleeves to try, once again, to recreate my dream plate of fried catfish.
Ingredients: (For the fish)
2lbs Catfish Fillets
1/4c Yellow Mustard
1c Yellow Cornmeal
3/4c Self-rising Flour
2+3/4tsp Seasoning Salt (see recipe below)
1+1/2tsp Paprika
1tsp Black Pepper
2c Vegetable Oil (I used Avocado oil)
(For the Seasoning Salt):
1tsp Kosher Salt
1tsp Garlic Powder
1tsp Onion Powder
1tsp Black Pepper
1/4tsp Paprika
**The Author listed these spices as a suggested mix or that you could buy “Johny’s” brand.
Method:
In a large bowl coat the catfish with the yellow mustard. (This was shocking to me. No egg or buttermilk?!)
Mix together the cornmeal, flour, seasoning salt, paprika and black pepper and gently coat each fillet.
Heat your oil in a deep frying pan to 350F-360F and fry the fish approximately 5 minutes each side.
Rosie Mayes recommends serving the fish with lemon wedges and tartar sauce but I couldn’t resist serving mine with some Sriracha laced ketchup.
Was this the catfish from that long cherished moment 34 years ago? Did it curl my toes and have me dancing in victory at finally, FINALLY having achieved what I thought impossible? Absolutely!!!! Thank you Rosie Mayes!
Stone House Mouse 