TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
FISH •
3 brown paper sacks for the batter 1 box of Tony Chachere’s Crispy Fish Fry 1 Box of Tony Chachere’s Seasoned Fish Fry Louisiana Hot Sauce (or similar)—optional
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peanut oil or grease of your liking
Andrew My three favorite fish to batter and drop in the grease are crappie, catfish, and largemouth bass. Yes, I said it, largemouth bass! I know that can be controversial amongst some anglers, but one of my all-time favorite places to fish is a pond that needs some 12-14-inch largemouth thinned out. To me, they are as close as it gets to perfection as the king of all fish fries, followed by crappie. They have many names, depending on what part of the country you are from. White perch, slab, sac-a-lait, paper mouth… it doesn’t matter what you call them, they are a real treat. For this recipe, I had about eight crappie from Millwood Lake. The process is quite simple. Once I have my fish filets rinsed, I like to put them straight into the batter—no need to pat them dry. (Optional step—coat the filets in Louisiana Hot Sauce or Frank’s Red Hot to give a little something extra to the golden crispies.) The batter is just a couple of boxes of pre-made fish fry (my favorite is listed in the ingredients) mixed up and dumped into a brown paper sack. I use three to help contain the batter when shaking and covering the filets. The paper sacks also help with cleanup. When you are done with the fish, it can all be thrown away. Once you get your filets covered, heat the oil to between 330 and 365 degrees. After heating, drop your coated filets into the grease. Make sure you do not have too much grease in there, or it will overflow and make a huge mess, or worse, a fire that can’t be put out. After two minutes of sizzling in the grease, they should be ready to pull out and serve.
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COMMUNITY & CULTURE
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