Surf perch recipes and cooking methods?

Hey guys,

I'm looking for recipes/methods for cooking up barred surf perch. They are tons of fun to catch, and I HEAR they can be quite delicious. I've eaten a few over the years, usually gutted and pan fried whole with various spices. They have generally come out mushy and semi-palatable at best.

What's the trick to making them tasty?

Thanks!

Alex

Hey guys,

I'm looking for recipes/methods for cooking up barred surf perch. They are tons of fun to catch, and I HEAR they can be quite delicious. I've eaten a few over the years, usually gutted and pan fried whole with various spices. They have generally come out mushy and semi-palatable at best.

What's the trick to making them tasty?

Thanks!

Alex

I like the whole fried way, usually if I'm going to flake them into a tortilla for fish tacos though. I'm a fan of filleting them, then going with an "egg to seasoned flour to egg to cornmeal" regimen and then straight into hot oil until golden brown and delicious.  Perch tends to be pretty delicate and as you said, gets mushy easily so the extra batter helps the texture. Squeeze of lemon and some chopped parsley, a dollop of dill tartar sauce, put it on a toasted bun with lettuce and tomato, a splash of hot sauce and pico de gallo on the top ... the possibilities are endless. I'm hungry now.

Whatever you do, keep them out of the oven. They just don't fare well under that kind of cooking.

That fish sando idea sounds delicious. I'll have to give that a try. 

I assume you're talking about deep frying the breaded filet? I don't have a fryer or oil thermometer, so that could be tricky.

Paksiw na Isda

I ate a bunch of them one El Nino winter in Santa Barbara.

Our favorite was to poach the little fillets in green enchilada sauce.

Can't recall what we served them with, but I remember we ate a lot of perch that winter ( we were both in temp jobs making like $8 hour). We had more time than money in those days

Just looked into paksiw na Isda. Looks interesting and tasty. I'm always down to try to new and unfamiliar cuisine.

Poached in enchilada sauce sounds tasty, too. I bet that would make a good fish burrito/wrap with some white rice and black beans.

Paksiw na Isda

+1

or flour'd and deep fried

That fish sando idea sounds delicious. I'll have to give that a try. 

I assume you're talking about deep frying the breaded filet? I don't have a fryer or oil thermometer, so that could be tricky.

Nah, you don't need to go to the trouble of true deep frying. Just a simple pan fry will do. Maybe a quarter to half inch of oil in a frying pan heated over medium high heat. Once you see the surface of the oil ripple a little, drop them in and let them go until they're nice and golden brown. The perch sandwich can't be beat ... buttered and toasted bun (or sliced sourdough), nice thick slices of tomato, thinly sliced onions, some butter lettuce, maybe a pickle, and a nice slather of garlic-dill mayo. Little batch of oven wedge fries on the side and a cold IPA ... done and done !

That fish sando idea sounds delicious. I'll have to give that a try. 

I assume you're talking about deep frying the breaded filet? I don't have a fryer or oil thermometer, so that could be tricky.

Nah, you don't need to go to the trouble of true deep frying. Just a simple pan fry will do. Maybe a quarter to half inch of oil in a frying pan heated over medium high heat. Once you see the surface of the oil ripple a little, drop them in and let them go until they're nice and golden brown. The perch sandwich can't be beat ... buttered and toasted bun (or sliced sourdough), nice thick slices of tomato, thinly sliced onions, some butter lettuce, maybe a pickle, and a nice slather of garlic-dill mayo. Little batch of oven wedge fries on the side and a cold IPA ... done and done !

Goddam... I need to catch perch NOW. Might have to stop somewhere and make a few casts on my way back from Bolinas tomorrow. Muir might hold a few perch, but I don't think there's enough wave action there right now to get them worked into feeding mode.

I just ate breakfast and you guys are making me hungry again! I think I wanna go catch some perch!!!

Paksiw na Isda

Sounds like the bomb! I'm going to have to try that!