Well paint me impressed. The last time I shopped for groceries, I finally remembered to pick up some coconut oil to try. So yesterday, since it had been quite a while since I'd had any catfish, I decided to try frying some catfish filets in coconut oil (not deep frying, just frying in a regular electric skillet).
Since they were frozen, I thawed a few of them in a microwave, and then rolled them in some Zatarain's Fish Fry breading (which is basically just enriched corn flour — usually, I just use plain corn flour or corn starch). While this was going on, I had about a half-inch or so of coconut oil, heating up to about 350 degrees in the skillet.
Just before I flipped the filets to fry the other side, I added some frozen French fries, and I turned up the temperature about 10–15 degrees (to help prevent the French fries from soaking up too much oil). When I took everything out about 12–15 minutes later, the filets had a beautiful, uniform, crisp, light golden crust, and the French fries also had a nice golden color.
I was hoping that it would all be mostly tolerable, since it looked so good. But when I started to chow down, I was blown away by the fact that it was probably the best fried catfish I had ever eaten, and the French fries were at least the equal of the best that I had ever eaten.
Inside the breading, the fish was tender and flaky, cooked uniformly, and just right, as far as I could tell. And while the French fries were cooked a little longer than many of the fast-food joints would have done (they weren't as limp as a dishrag), IMO they had just the right amount of crispness, and the flavor was awesome. No sogginess, or toughness, or any other negative attributes — just plain old home-cooked goodness.So what's goin' on here? One thing I am not, is a cook, let alone a good cook. I can make a stew that is second to none, and I'm not too bad around a grill, or a griddle, but the term "good cook" would definitely be an incongruous fit, if directed at me. So for that kind of first-attempt success, clearly, there's something about coconut oil that gives it magical cooking qualities.
The oil still looked good after it cooled down, so I poured it back into the original container and saved it. And considering that I dumped the last of the dregs, since it contained most of the corn flour that had settled out, apparently very little of the oil soaked into the food, because all but a little of it appeared to be back in the container. Does anyone know of any reason why coconut oil can't be reused? I gotta pick up some more of that stuff. It's awesome.
Tex
P. S. No, I'm not part of the coconut oil lobby, in case anyone is wondering.
