Today we are going to take a look at making a fun and tasty treat: Deep fried battered spicy fish bites.
For our fish we are using the ever versatile catfish Basa. But you can also use regular catfish or a fish like cod.
For the batter we are going to jazz and spice up a store bought batter.
We used a Club House beer batter though you can use any one of your choosing.
To begin you want to slice some boneless, skinless Basa filets into bite or nugget sized pieces.
We used four smaller sized filets.
Do not season the fish itself.
Put the batter in a bowl. Add the following and stir:
black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon Bay Seasoning
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 tablespoon paprika
Then, instead of beer add soda water. Add the amount that they call for of beer. In this case it was 2/3 of a cup of soda water.
Then add 2 tablespoon of a country-style or Cajun-style Dijon mustard and 2 tablespoons (or to taste) of your favourite hot sauce. We used Melinda's Habanero Pepper Sauce.
Stir thoroughly.
One at a time place your fish pieces in the batter and coat thoroughly.
In a deep pot heat about 2-3 inches of vegetable until it is hot enough to deep fry.
Then add your battered fish pieces in batches.
Some may sink to the bottom in which case you want to gently make sure they don't stick with a spoon or spatula and that they rise towards the top.
When they are a golden brown remove one at a time carefully with a large slotted spoon to allow some of the oil to drip away and place on a large plate or platter lined with paper towel. Sprinkle with some sea or finishing salt to taste and let sit for around 3 minutes before serving.
Serve with lemon wedges, Tartar sauce and extra hot sauce on the side.
Enjoy!