An iconic fish fry classic from Great Lakes coastal towns, featuring tender, mild yellow perch fillets coated in a light cornmeal crust and fried until crisp and golden brown.
Ingredients
- 800 g fresh skinless yellow perch fillets
- 200 ml pasteurized 3% buttermilk
- 100 g standard T55 all-purpose flour
- 80 g fine yellow cornmeal
- 1 tsp ground sweet paprika
- 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp fine refined salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 800 ml standard refined sunflower oil
- 160 g tartar sauce
- 2 pieces fresh untreated lemon
Method
- Thoroughly pat the fresh yellow perch fillets dry with paper towels to remove all surface moisture.
- Pour the buttermilk into a shallow dish, stir in a pinch of fine salt, and submerge the perch fillets for about 10 minutes.
- In a second shallow dish, whisk together the all-purpose flour, fine yellow cornmeal, sweet paprika, cayenne pepper, remaining fine salt, and ground black pepper.
- Pour the sunflower oil into a deep skillet or cast-iron pan and heat to 180 °C. The oil should sizzle immediately when a pinch of breading is dropped in.
- Remove the perch fillets from the buttermilk, letting excess drip off briefly, then dredge in the cornmeal mixture. Press gently with your palm to adhere the coating, then shake off any excess.
- Carefully lower the breaded perch fillets into the hot oil in small batches to maintain a steady, active fry.
- Fry for 2 to 3 minutes, flipping halfway through with a slotted spatula or skimmer, until the crust is crisp and evenly golden.
- Transfer the fried fillets immediately to a wire rack set over paper towels to let steam escape and keep them perfectly crisp.
- Plate the hot perch fillets, arrange the lemon wedges alongside, and serve immediately with tartar sauce.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 615 kcal
- Protein
- 39.47 g
- Carbohydrate
- 25.8 g
- Fat
- 39.43 g
- Fibre
- 3.01 g
- Calcium
- 36.01 mg
- Iron
- 0.73 mg
- Magnesium
- 14.6 mg
