Deep-Fried Bluefish

After fishing in Boston Harbor for Nick's birthday, we first took a stab at cooking up the striped bass but still had some bluefish to play with.  Bluefish is a more oily fish, is definitely more "fishy" tasting and traditionally harder to work with.  Captain Scott told us we cold easily fry these up, so I figured I would give it a go and searched around the internet for some recipes.

Fish-Fry At Home

Fried Bluefish (Adapted from Taste of Southern)

• Bluefish 
• Flour
• Grits (corn meal is probably prefered but grits were in my cupboard)
• Milk
• Eggs
• Pepper
• Salt
• Paprika
• Cayenne
• Garlic Powder

I first had to finish prepping the fish by ensuring all the bones were removed and then cutting out the deep bluefish vein.  I then cut the fish into manageable pieces and attempted to keep them about the same size, roughly that of a large chicken finger.

Raw Blue Fish

I prepared bowls of milk, grits and flour.  Shallow bowls are preferred, but these were what I grabbed first.

Readying the coating

The first step is to coat the fish pieces in the flour, followed by the milk.  I then seasoned the milk-coated fish with all of the spices.  I really did not measure these, but I knew the blue fish was strong, so I was a bit heavy handed (especially with the salt) and it all worked out - so, don't be afraid to add a couple of extra shakes!

Spiced Up

Then it was time to double dip the fish - first in the milk, then in the grits, then back into the milk and then one last grit coating.

Ready to be fried!

During the dredging, I had poured enough vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet so that it was about a quarter to half inch deep and turned the burner up high - I wanted the oil to get REALLY hot. I tested the temperature by sprinkling some flour into the flour, and when it sizzled I knew it was ready for the fish. I added about four pieces at a time to prevent overcrowding the pan and let them cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side; enough to give the pieces a nice golden brown color.

Fish Fry

While I had been cooking, Nick whipped up some of Megan's Cucumber Salad with Feta and Toasted Bread Crumbs for a side and dinner was ready.  I served the fish with some honey mustard and BBQ sauce, depending what we were in the mood for.

Dinner is served!

Blue Fish!

I really enjoyed this fish.  I will warn you though, it is a fishy fish, and therefore not Nick's favorite - he used a lot of sauce. The grits were an OK substitution for the corn meal, but I think cornmeal would be a softer touch. The grits did, however, add a good crunch to the fried fish. With a somewhat difficult fish, frying it up is definitely the way to go.

We do have another fillet in the freezer of blue fish, and the other option we have heard is to bake it smothered in mayonnaise (which we do here) or in ranch dressing, which helps remove a lot of the oil in the fish.

How have you cooked blue fish?