Why dip in eggs?

[Skitterpop]

I dip my fillets in egg before coating them in a cracker/corn meal mixture and I find that the dry mix sticks much better to the egg and makes a much crisper and tastier fillet. In the BWACW we never have the eggs so we get the fillets as wet as possible and it just is not as good as coating them in egg first.

[Bobby Bass]

An egg is used as a binder. a tasty glue.

[Down to Earth]

A lot of the recipes I see posted mention dipping the fillet in egg before frying. I've always just rinsed with water and then dipped into my breading/flour mix. Why do you use the egg? Am I missing out on something?

Thanks.

Andy

[!wall-i-king]

I actually use a mixture of egg and milk before I put any batter on it. I also just used water for a long time and if I don't have a lot of batter I still will. However if you have enough batter and maybe a little extra putting egg on the fish will cause the batter to stick a little better and be a little thicker. Plus I really think that it adds another flavor that just makes the fish that much better..

[FRESHWATER PETIE]

If you are short on eggs, beer is good too...

[BAIT956]

I've used water, milk, eggs etc.

Lately I've been using mayo with great results. Leaves no mayo flavor. Just add a little bit of water or milk to the mayo to get the right consistency. Then batter up.

[Lake Alice]

20 minutes in buttermilk before dusting. You will not be disappointed.

[IceAge@work]

There is a pretty proven process to coating fish ( or anything) for frying. Its the dry-wet-dry method.

1. Start with a dry (yes dry) fillet and dust with seasoned flour. Shake off all excess flour.

2. Dip in a liquid. This creates a binder for the crust to adhere to. I prefer Beer or Buttermilk for the added flavor dimension. Beaten Eggs will work but to me make the coating heavy. Can also use a thin mixture of beaten eggs and milk.

3. Dip in your primary coating mixture. I like Panko (Japanese) Bread Crumbs, it makes a very crispy coating. Cracker Crumbs work great. Corn Flakes, Plain Bread Crumbs, Shore Lunch etc. Or any of the above mixed with a little corn meal.

Once coated let the fillets set for at least a half hour and when fried in good hot oil the coating will be very crispy, tasty and not greasy.

[Leaky]

Ice - that is excellent advise. I do the same, only the seaoned flour in the first step is Shore Lunch. If none available, I'll use salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and either Emrils Essence or paprika. And your right, making sure the fillets are dry for step one is key.

[IceAge@work]

Quote:

---

Ice - that is excellent advise. I do the same, only the seaoned flour in the first step is Shore Lunch. If none available, I'll use salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and either Emrils Essence or paprika. And your right, making sure the fillets are dry for step one is key.

---

Using the Shorelunch as step one is a great idea. I think I'll do that on opener. Thanks for the tip.

[slim1]

Ice- where do you get that panko crumbs from? I use to cook with it in a resteaunt out west. what store? thanks

[IceAge@work]

My wife gets them at Cub. They are a Kikkoman(sp) product and come in a box.

I've found them at Kowalski's in the oriental foods section. Not sure if that is where they are at Cub or if they are placed with the regular bread crumbs.

[waskawood]

I do basically what has already been said. I just want to add that I like to make my own fry mix. You can be as creative as you like and you can spend the money saved on bait or gas. I mix flour and crushed chex mix together. I will use corn or rice chex mix. I then add season salt, garlic powder, paprika, and what ever else I feel like at the time. If you like heat, add some ground hot pepper. I like chipolte pepper, it adds a slight hint of smoke. The flour helps bind everything together and the chex mix adds texture. I think that with a little imagination that you can come up with your own mix that is less expensive and actually tastes better than the comercial mix. Happy eating.

[eyehead]

How long do you guys usually soak your fillets in milk for??? Thanks

[BobT]

How do you keep beer aroung long enough to coat a fish fillet with it?

Bob

[wayne123]

Because that is the way Mama did it!

I think you can get more breading to stick that way and if you mix the seasonings in the flour like stated above it will be distributed nicely.

[freddie]

For as long as I can remember, we've done the good old milk, flour, egg, crumbs. Don't know why, just know it's always great.

[snapcrackpop]

I have been using instant potato flakes/buds lately.

They make nice, crispy flakes on the fillets and you can use what you need, then put the box back in the cupboard.

If you can find it with sour cream, even better!

Anyone else try the instant potatoes?

[nitefisher]

i do that to but i add a little celery salt to the flakes, it gives it a smokey flavor, not to much though or it will be to salty.

[Tripleplay]

I always have a bag of dry mix ready to go and it usually starts with Shorelunch or something similar, potato flakes for the crunch and then Old Bay seasoning. Salt and pepper as well.

[BigWormin]

If you don't have egg, mustard works great! If fry's much cleaner too (no bubbles in the grease). You won't be disappointed, it's great!