A few weeks ago, Kristin got a text from our friend Stef asking if we liked catfish. Turns out Stef's uncle had been at a fundraiser where they had a stocked pond for kids to fish out of, and when the event was over, they were going to throw out the fish! So he filled two coolers with dozens of catfish, and a few hours later, we found ourselves at a catfish filleting party.
Frying the marinated, floured catfish pieces.
Simmering spinach, onion, coconut milk.
The only time previous I can remember having contact with a fresh fish was at another stocked pond before I was 10 years old, when I stood by as Dad did a quick cleanup of a fish we caught there. Catfish have some pointy barbs to steer clear of, and really tough scales—that have to be ripped off to get to the meat. Kristin got pretty good at that. I was on gutting duties. One of our friends there is from Hawaii, and he showed me some good techniques for getting some nice clean fillets.
At the end of the night, we had 5 freezer bags of fresh catfish fillets.
So we've been looking for fish recipes! This one sounded interesting—especially the blend of spices used for the fish, including cinnamon. Kristin started the fish marinating about an hour or two before I got home (still at church, as usual), and blended up the spinach. Then we fried (making sure the oil was hot enough before we added the fish; my most common mistake in frying fish is adding it too early, and the fish soaks up the oil instead of cooking in it. (Ideally, as I understand it, the oil quickly crisps and cooks the breading and the outside of the fish, sealing it so that the inside is actually steamed from its own moisture.)
It turned out delicious. The coconut paired surprisingly well with the spinach and fish, giving it a smooth and nutty taste. This would probably work just fine with any type of firm, white fish.
No comments:
Post a Comment