Recipe of Month - Bonus - December 2010

I ask readers all the time what they want to see in new recipes.  As predicted, I'm just overwhelmed with requests for a good catfish recipe!  So here's one to try during the holidays.

Sweet-and-Sour Catfish

• 2 to 3 lbs catfish fillets
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 (8-oz) can pineapple chunks packed in juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 table spoon plus 1 cup cornstarch, divided
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red (cayenne) pepper
• 2 1/2 cups of peanut oil, divided
• 6 to 8 carrots, cut diagonally into bite-sized pieces
• 1 rib celery, cut diagonally into bite size pieces
• 1 medium onion cut into 8 wedges
• 1 medium red bell pepper, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 cup purchased sweet-and-sour sauce
• Hot cooked white rice
• 4 green onions, green portion chopped for garnish


Preparation

1. Cut catfish on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces. Place in self-sealing plastic bag
2. For marinade, stir together soy sauce, wine, hot sauce and ginger.  Drain pineapple reserving juice.  Cover and refrigerate pineapple chunks.  Add 1/2 cup pineapple juice to marinade.  Stir together water and 1 tablespoon cornstarch; add to marinade.  Pour over the catfish.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Make the coating in paper bag.  Add 1 cup cornstarch, cornmeal, seasoned salt, onion powder, garlic powder and cayenne pepper.
4. Remove fish from marinade, let liquid drip off.  Put about half the fish into the bag and shake to coat.  Shake off excess coating.  Repeat with other half of fish. Discard marinade and residual coating.
5. Heat 2 cups of peanut oil in a wok or large skillet to 360 degrees or until oil begins to ripple slightly (i.e. it is hot).  Fry fish in small batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
6. When all fish is cooked, drain wok and wipe it out with paper towels.  Return wok to heat.
7. Add 3 tablespoons of peanut oil.  Add stir-fry vegetables - carrots first, then celery, then bell pepper and lastly the onion.  Cook until tender (7-8 min) and remove vegetables to plate.
8. Pour 1 tablespoon peanut oil into the wok.  Stir in sweet-and-sour sauce.  Return fish and vegetables to wok and coat in sauce.  Finally, add reserved pineapple chunks.
9. Serve with white rice, garnished with green onions. 

Yield: 6-8 servings

Posted by Bruce Lehr December 29th 2010.

 

 

 

Comments

[bigredbruce]

I can't begin to tell you how well this recipe turned out. It was absolutely delicious and well worth the effort. Yum!
I paired it with a Pinot Grigio which wasn't bad but it could go with something drier as well.