Panfish

[craznazn]

With all of the crappie, blue gill, and tilapia fishing going on, are there any favorites recipes for cooking these whole?

[Jingow]

Gut crappy, scale the fish. Salt and pepper the fish inside and out. Put 1 T. butter in the pan 2T. corn oil. Fry the fish untill crispy on both sides. Very simple and delicious.

[Seng90806]

gut, scale, cut of the head, deep fried whole and dip in soy sauce, eat with white rice....YUMMMY!!!

[Jingow]

Sounds tasty Seng. I love the simple recipes. Don't mask the true flavor of the fish.

[craznazn]

I'll try the deep fry...nice and simple.

[ElementX]

Deep fry is how i do it. Use a wok if you can so it keeps the oil splatter down.

Heat pan with about 3-4 tablespoons of oil or butter. I'd try it out with oil first because its easier to end up with a good fry. Make sure your cleaned fish has been patted down with paper towels if possible. This will prevent all that massive popping/sizzling/burning splatter that ususally gets you when you put the fish in the pan.

I cook on high usually for about 5-10 mins depending on the fish before flipping. You'll know when its ok to flip when you can jigglel the pan and the fish slides around. It will not move and may break apart if its not ready yet, so dont jiggle too hard. Do the same for the other side, then flip back over to the original size you started with and turn heat dowb ti medium high. About 5 mins on each side again and it should be ready.

This leaves the outside very crispy, while the meat inside is firm but tender. Season it, dip it, or eat it as is.

I cook them whole and it is usually about 20-25 mins to cook a whole fish in the 1lb range. Here's how I prep:
-clean fish
-scale fish
-snip off all the fins with heavy duty scissors
-cut verticle slits along the fish's body about 1-2" apart depending on size of fish., about 3/4ths of the way down to the bone. This gives it more surface area for crispy goodness and faster cook
-rinse everything with brine and then fresh water
-remove excess water with paper towels

Now if you don't care about your grill smelling like fish, I believe thats the easiest method for some good eatin. Only thing you need to do is cut your fish and brush on some oil (on outside) so he dont stick to your grill. From there, you toss him whole with scales and all onto the grill. Cooking time will very depending on size of course, but once its done, you just peel off the skin and scales real easy with a fork. I prefer this to fillets or whole fish wrapped in foil because the meat still comes out firm, moist, and almost sweet compared to the fishy tang you get letting a whole fish stew in foil. Of course the cooked fish smell is still there, but its not so much in the meat.

[Sparky70]

Try this,
dip filets in flour, then egg wash, then Panco mix, toss in deepfryer until golden brown, take out and EAT!

[vagabond]

scale,gut,season salt,pepper.a few drops of sesame seed oil and some fresh ginger in its stomach wrap in aluminum foil and steam for 20-25 min..