I try to eat fish once a week. If I had my way, I'd eat salmon or swordfish or even tilapia. But, I am a poor college kid, and catfish is significantly cheaper where I'm at. But for some reason, I just can't find a way to prepare it that I like. I have tried several white fish recipes, and all I can taste is catfish. I don't mind the fishy taste, but for some reason, catfish tastes like aquarium water to me (or at least how I'd imagine aquarium water to taste based on the smell, lol).
Anybody have any good catfish recipes? Or should I just give up and fork up the money for tilapia which I have no problem preparing.
I think there's a reason why catfish is always covered with half an inch of fried batter, lol.
I know what you mean. To me, catfish has a muddy taste. Up hear, near NY, it is one of the less expensive fish, but I can usually get cod & tilapia for less. The northeast is the home of the cod. For catfish, or other southern foods, like collard greens, I have to go to a grocery store with an African-American clientele.
The two ways that I usually eat catfish:
1) Soak it in milk for a while. Then mix breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese & a little bit of dried parsley in a bowl. Roll the catfish in it. Spray it with just one spray of olive oil, to set it. Place on foil-covered cookie sheet & bake it.
2) Mix together smoked paprika & garlic powder. (It's important that it be smoked paprika, not plain old paprika. Spanish & gourmet stores markets will carry it.) Add enough olive oil to make a paste. Smear that all over the fish. Throw it in a sprayed frying pan or -- as I prefer -- stick it inside a Foreman grill.
Mix everything together and marinate the catfish in it for a hour or two. Then grill or broil the catfish. This makes enough marinade for 24 oz of catfish. Assuming you divide it into six servings, it is 220 calories per serving (this includes about 11 calories for the marinade).
You could also use this marinade for other types of fish, like tilapia.
Hi Megan,
You can try doing this and see if you like it. I am from India and if you like the Inidan flavor you will appreciate this recipe.
# 1 rule for any type of fish is to wash 3 times well by rubbing the fish on both sides with turmeric powder and salt (available in the Indian stores) By doing this you will be able to remove the fishy odor.
Baked catfish:
for 1 lb, use 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, little bit lemon juice and 4 pinches of chilli powder + little water to make a thin paste. Marinate this for about 25 minutes and then bake it at 350 for 15 minutes.
HI! Saef mentioned soaking the catfish in milk. Buttermilk can also be used. Soak it for a good 30-60 minutes. One site even recommended coconut milk. It is used to remove some of the strong taste/odor from the fish. Of course you would discard the milk after.
I Googled this and most recipes call for frying (LOVE, LOVE fried catfish!), but I found one that suggested steaming it with ginger and scallions. That might be worth a try. Just add things that you like (garlic, peppercorns, spices, soy sauce, maybe citrus).
Also, you might Google "Healthy catfish recipes". I got lots of results doing that! Good luck!
# 1 rule for any type of fish is to wash 3 times well by rubbing the fish on both sides with turmeric powder and salt (available in the Indian stores) By doing this you will be able to remove the fishy odor.
Very interesting! I had to buy a pretty big bag of turmeric powder recently (the only size they had in the Indian aisle of my grocery store - and I wasn't going to spend $5+ on a tiny bottle in the aisle with the name-brand spices!) and I was wondering how I would use it all. Sounds like it's time for me to go buy some cheap fish!
Help me with catfish!
Sounds like it's time for me to go buy some cheap fish!
