What Happened To My Deep Fried Cod?

fmdog44

fmdog44

Well-known Member
Location
Houston, Texas
I have never deep fried fish. Simple recipe of flour, baking soda, milk and water for the batter all in the correct portions. Put the filet in oil @350 degrees and a portion of the batter soon separated from the filet. The batter turned too brown and the filet stuck to the non-stick surface and fell apart. So the second filet went in at 320 F and like the first filet it fell apart but the batter was golden. My guess is the fish fell apart because it was too wet even though I defrosted it uncovered in the fridge. Right or wrong? By thy way the flavor was incredible and without any seasoning.
 

I've never cooked cod. What if you try adding a beaten egg and bread crumbs to your batter? I would not use milk or water. You could add a little mayo to the batter as well. That could help it stick to the fish. Have you tried pancake batter?
 
I never used a wet dip with those ingredients but a higher initial heat usually tends to seal breading better. Depending upon thickness of fillet, it might mean more of a quick dip into oil rather than prolonged frying time. Try 400 or 425 and watch closely.
 

Phoenix said:
I've never cooked cod. What if you try adding a beaten egg and bread crumbs to your batter? I would not use milk or water. You could add a little mayo to the batter as well. That could help it stick to the fish. Have you tried pancake batter?
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Thanks- some good info. I'm brand new at deep frying because of the health issue and I think pancake batter sounds like worth a try. I do have some stuff called Fish Fry where you add it to an egg.
 
I'm pretty sure my mother used to dredge the fish in plain flour, before frying. I couldn't eat it (allergy), but it was nicely browned and looked delicious.
 
fmdog44 said:
Thanks- some good info. I'm brand new at deep frying because of the health issue and I think pancake batter sounds like worth a try. I do have some stuff called Fish Fry where you add it to an egg.
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I think it also depends on what you want the end result to be. Like Pinky's mom mine just rolled it in flour. If what you want is a batter crust like you'd get if you had it at a restaurant, then you need some kind of batter. There are recipe web sites online. You might put in a search argument for deep fried cod or fish, or batter deep fried cod or fish recipes.
 
I never learned how to deep fry anything, so I'm no help there.

We either bake or pan-fry fish which has been just dusted with flour.

I do know that cod falls apart easily. I think haddock and halibut are more firm.

Just my 2-cents.
 
I do not know what you are using for the wet batter but if it's too thick sometimes it will do that. Try making a thinner wet batter. Coat the fish well with your dry batter. Let it cook for a few before attempting to turn it.
 
mlh said:
I do not know what you are using for the wet batter but if it's too thick sometimes it will do that. Try making a thinner wet batter. Coat the fish well with your dry batter. Let it cook for a few before attempting to turn it.
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What really stumps me is how great the flavor was when I did not even salt it much less season it.
 
mlh said:
I do not know what you are using for the wet batter but if it's too thick sometimes it will do that. Try making a thinner wet batter. Coat the fish well with your dry batter. Let it cook for a few before attempting to turn it.
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I found out that when adding a batter you should coat whatever you are going to batter with flour first. That makes the batter stick better because it dries up whatever moisture is there.

Similar to what you are saying about coating it with the dry batter.
 
Camper6 said:
I found out that when adding a batter you should coat whatever you are going to batter with flour first. That makes the batter stick better because it dries up whatever moisture is there.

Similar to what you are saying about coating it with the dry batter.
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I have done that as well. I just do not like my breading so thick.
 
Watching a cooking show yesterday I think I may have the solution. After you cover the fish in flour and dip it in the batter place it in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow the batter to stick to the fish. They were doing that to shrimp. I will try it this week.
 
Fish & chips is a favourite dish is the UK. Cod seems to be preferred in England it's haddock in Scotland.

If you use frozen fish, make sure it's thawed and excess moisture dried off. Make the batter with self-raising flour (seasoned with salt & pepper) and a good brown beer. I use one called Hobgoblin, but that's a personal choice.
Dust the fish with flour and then dip it into the batter, baking sure it's fully coated.

Deep fry the fish. Make sure the oil (I use sunflower oil) is hot and fry the fish just enough to initially cook the batter - this is only 30 seconds or so. Lift the fish out and crank up the heat a bit and then return the battered fish to finish cooking and the batter to become crisp. Again this doesn't take long - there's not much worse than over cooked fish.

I'd never dream of shallow frying a battered fish - coated in breadcrumbs, I'd only use the bare minimum of oil. However my favourite way for cooking a delicate fish such as sole, is to fry it in butter seasoned with thyme. This only takes seconds - into the pan, a quick sizzle, turn it over - same on other side and on to the plate.
 


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