We did not deep fry it, cooked it wight away just hot saute in a pan with butter. After what we had seen we did not even feel like eating much of it. I was the second daughter so I was my Dad’s fishing buddy.
Dad loved to fish. He took my brothers as often as they could take time off from work. The first few years of starting his own business, there was no time off. When the family business was first established, we didn’t take holidays off either,
Back to fishing though. One time Dad brought home a large catch of fish. I don’t even remember what kind. Anyway, Dad told mom to clean it since he caught it. She did it that one time. Never again. Mom didn’t stand up for herself often, but she did then, and I’m glad.
She told Dad to do it outside, too, not in our kitchen.
When times got better, Dad would meet the fishermen and purchase the fish. When times got even better, he’d pay extra for them to do the cleaning and filleting.
We also grew bell peppers on my uncle’s farm for extra money. I swear we had bell peppers with every meal. Ok, that’s an exaggeration, but I can tell you it took me 40 years to willingly eat bell peppers again. Raw or cooked.
Yeah, unfortunately, pan frying doesn’t work well at all for catfish...
Catfish generally need marination and the benefits of the Maillard reaction.* Deep frying with batter spiced up with, for example, Tony’s Creole seasoning (the regular version, not “Hot” or “More Spice”) somehow furthers the cooking chemistry.* The marination can be skipped if the catfish is fresh and out of really good water, esp. for blues and flatheads in the 2-5 lb. range.
*Why this chemistry works well particularly for catfish lies somewhere deep in the culinary science, I suppose. It’s not a masking of flavor / texture, it’s a “development”. And, certainly, not all fish are best deep fried.
*Tons of info. on the Maillard reaction is online. One can go PHD level if they wish, and I wish I could - the chemistry looks fascinating, but I unfortunately don’t have that much free time! I just go with what works. :-)
Just out of curiosity, what’s your favorite fish (to eat)? Mine is walleye, but we don’t have them around here. :-(