Pan Fried Fish Pieces of salmon and other fish

How to Pan Fry a Whole Fish with Flour? Full Guide.

Pan Frying a Whole Fish with Flour

Fish being a source of high protein, it is a favorite for many people all around the world. Amazing taste and great texture of the fishes can satisfy your taste buds completely.

There are many recipes that you can with the fishes. One of the most delicious and amazing recipes for cooking any non-fatty fishes is the pan-fried fish.

One of the popular ingredients that you need to use for a pan fry fish is flour. It helps to create a tasty and crispy coating on the fish. To know more about how to pan fry a whole fish with flour and why you need flour, read on.

We will discuss about the two most popular and common methods for frying the fish with flour. It is simple and easy.

To pan fry a whole fish with flour is easy. The preparation time takes hardly 10 minutes and the cooking time can take 15 to 30 minutes depending on how many fishes you have to fry. Get fish, flour, salt and paprica.

You will need to slice the fish, flour fish slices, heat the oil in pan, put in and fry the fish for about 3 minutes on each side, and serve the fried fish. Read on for exact steps on how to do it.

Why Flour is Important for Pan Fry Fish?

While pan frying a whole fish, you have to use a bit of flour. This is needed to prepare a coating all over the fish. When you pan fry the whole fish, you have to keep the flame or heat to the highest.

The flour coating can protect the flesh of the fish from getting exposed to the direct heat. Hence, it can keep the fish quite moist and flavors intact. Also, it can provide a beautiful brownish crispy and crunchy crust on the fish which adds a texture to the fish.

This method of adding flour on the fish can also help in avoiding a large amount of oil from getting soaked into the fish. If the fish soaks a large amount of oil, then it will not only lose a lot of flavor but the soft fleshy texture will be gone too.

The flour added can help to avoid the complete mess which is quite common while frying. This flour can keep the fillet in one piece. There is a difference in the overall looks and taste when you fry a whole fish with the flour and without any. The fish fry tastes always better with the flour coating.

How to Prepare for Frying?

Now when you know why you need flour, you can start the next part i.e. preparation for the recipe. If you are pan frying the whole fish, then you have to choose a whole fish that is small enough for fitting into the frying pan perfectly. This is the core ingredient. Besides that, you will need:

  • Salt and pepper
  • Paprika
  • Deep frying oil i.e canola oil or corn oil
  • All-purpose plain flour

Once you have organized all the ingredients, it is time for you to prepare the fish. Follow these steps:

  • Clean the fish properly by rinsing it under the cold running water
  • Then pat it dry completely to ensure that there is no water on the skin
  • Now take a sharp knife and make three slits vertically (up down) on each side of the fish
  • Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on each side of the fish and massage the seasoning properly
  • Make sure that the salt and pepper are going into the slits properly

Now, you have to prepare the coating. The coating must be made up of flour, as mentioned above. But you cannot use the flour only to prepare it. You have to combine some of the important and essential ingredients into it to ensure that the coating tastes good too. Using flour only can make it taste bland.

So, combine the flour with a pinch of salt, pepper and paprika. As you have already used the salt directly on the fish, you have to be careful about amount you are using. Take a plate and mix the flour, paprika, salt and pepper properly so that it is evenly mixed.

First Method: How to Pan Fry a Whole Fish?

Your flour mixture is ready and so are your whole fish and other ingredients. Once you have prepared everything, it is time for you to pan fry a whole fish with flour. Follow each and every step very carefully.

Step #1: Flouring the fish

Dip the fish you have kept with salt and pepper into the flour mixture. Make sure that the fish is completely coated with that flour mixture on all the sides.

Once it is done, shake the fish gently so that the excess flour can fall down on the plate. Repeat with all other fishes that you have. Set aside all the flour coated fish.

Step #2: Heat the oil

Now, pour the oil into the skillet or the frying pan you are using. Make sure to take enough oil for frying the fish. The recommended amount is 4 or 1/3 of thickness of the fish, but you can experiment;

Or, about one centimeter (less than ½ of an inch) in the frying pan which is enough for frying one side of the fish completely. Heat it until the oil is very hot. You can test the oil with a small piece of break to make sure that the oil is perfectly heated.

Step #3: Fry the fish

When you have known that the oil is hot enough, you can slowly lower the flour coated fish into the pan. Let it stay and fry until the skin turns into golden.

You will notice that one side will look crispy. It takes about 3 minutes to cook one side. Now, you have to turn over the fish and let the other side of the fish to cook. The other side will also take about 3 minutes.

Make sure fish is opaque and can be easily peeled off the bones – then it is cooked.

Step #4: Serve the pan fried fish

Once it is fully friend, you have to carefully remove the fish from that hot oil and put it on a plate lined with the paper towel. This will help to drain away the excess oil completely. Now you can serve this delicious, crispy pan fried fish with chips or salad.

Second Method: How to Pan Dry a Whole Fish?

This is the second method that you can use to pan fry the whole fish. The ingredients are all same except 2 things. So, here is the next and updated list of ingredients that you will need for this second method:

  • Salt and pepper
  • Paprika
  • Deep frying oil i.e. canola oil or corn oil
  • All-purpose plain flour
  • Eggs (beaten)
  • Breadcrumbs

You have to follow all the other preparation steps like washing the fish and seasoning it with salt and pepper. You can also use a bit of lemon juice for seasoning as this will help to enhance the overall taste. When everything is done, mix the paprika only with the flour and keep it aside on a plate. Now, break some eggs and beat it properly and set it aside in a bowl or a plate. In the third plate, take some breadcrumbs. All set? Now, follow these steps:

Step #1: Flouring the fish

Place the whole fish on the flour and pat the flour properly on each side of the fish. Make sure that it is properly coated. Once it is done, you have to shake off the excess flour from the fish by gently shaking it on the flour plate only.

Step #2: Egg & Breadcrumbs

Here, the step is slightly different from the previous method. Now, dip the flour coated fish in the beaten egg and make sure that the whole fish is properly coated with the egg mixture.

After that, lift the fish out of that egg letting the excess egg to drip off slowly from the fish.

Then lay the fish directly on the plate of breadcrumbs to apply the final coating.

Use your dry hand to cover the entire fish with the breadcrumbs completely.

Now pat it down properly to set the crumbs into a fine coat.

Patting ensures that the crumbs will stick to the fish. Lift the fish and gently shake it to make the excess crumbs fall off.

Now repeat the Step #2 to Step #4 from the previous method to fry fish completely and properly. But in this case, the fish may take a longer than that of 3 minutes as the coating is a bit thicker than the previous one.

Which Method to Try?

Pan frying the whole fish with flour can be done in both the methods. If you want the coating to be thin and slightly crispy, then the first method is the ideal one.

But if you want the coating to be thicker and crispier like that of the restaurant ones, then the second method is the best. You can try any one of these or both.

But don’t forget to use the flour and season the flour properly to add the flavor as well as the texture to the coating.

You can serve these pan fried fish along with some main course or even simply with the chips or salad. They can be quite filling, especially the one made with beaten eggs and breadcrumbs.

If you want to have fish fry only for your meal with the chips or salad on side, then you can try the egg and breadcrumb recipe. It can be more filling for you.

But if you are planning to prepare a main course and want to serve the pan fry fishes as appetizers, then you can try the first method.

Best Tips For Pan Frying Fish:

You know about both the methods that you can try to pan fry the whole fish with flour. But there are many things or rules that you have to know while you are preparing these recipes. Some of these are explained in details below:

Tip 1: Choose the right fish

The best fish that you can choose for pan frying is cod. You can also choose trout fish. These are sturdy fishes that can keep the shape of it intact throughout the cooking process. Besides these, you can also choose carp, haddock, bass, snapper etc.

Tip 2: Wash and season the fishes

The most important step is to wash the fishes thoroughly under the cold running water. You have to be sure that the fish is clean before you can go ahead and prepare it for the fry.

Don’t forget to season the fish with salt, pepper and lemon (if you want). Keep the fishes with the seasoning on for at least an hour or so before coating and frying.

Tip 3: Dry the fish properly

The golden rule of frying is that you have to ensure that fish is properly dried before the process of seasoning and coating. Excess moisture can lower the temperature of the oil while frying.

This can cause the oil to get more agitated. This will can cause burns or even mess at times.

Tip 4: Flip only once

This is another important aspect of the pan fry fish. You have to make sure that you are flipping the fish only once. Once a side is done, flip the fish and let the other side to fry. When it is done, DON’T flip the fish back again. This can take away the crispiness of the fish fry coating. Remember to just flip once!

Tip 5: Don’t skimp on seasoning

Seasoning is very important. You have to ensure that seasoning is done properly and careful. Don’t miss any part or area while you are seasoning the whole fish. Use the pepper and salt to season the entire fish properly. This seasoning is the main part which actually adds the flavor to the fish and coating. So, don’t ever skimp on the seasoning. Take time to properly season each and every fish.

Few More Words

Here we discussed only a couple of methods of frying whole fish using flour. Obviously, there are more ways and methods to play with which can yield many different flavors.

This is a starter guide. Once you get a hand of it, you may become more creative and start experimenting to come up with something that maybe nobody has done before.

Remember that raw fish, not frozen, can be a source of some not very nice bacteria.

Whatever you do, always make sure to cook fish thoroughly well to avoid any unpleasant surprises after consuming fish.

Conclusion

Now you know all about how to pan fry a whole fish with flour. You can try any of these 2 methods to ensure that you can have a tasty and crispy fish fry.

As said above, you can serve this with anything. Whether you are looking for an option to be added in the main course or you want something for the appetizer, this is the best recipe that you can try.

People love to have pan fried fish because of their amazing flavor and great goodness inside. Choose the fish properly as the entire recipe depends on what fish you choose.

Once you are done, serve them hot to your friends and family. They will simply love it!