At-Home Fish Fry: 18 Recipes to Make During Lent (2024)

FAQs

What is Lent fish fry? ›

Fish is often served on Friday nights during Lent, the Christian season of repentance, as a restaurant special or through church fundraisers. A fish fry may include potato pancakes (with accompanying side dishes of sour cream or applesauce) and sliced caraway rye bread if served in a German restaurant or area.

Pour about 1/2-inch of oil into a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers. Working in batches, fry the fillets until golden brown and crisp, about 6 minutes.

Chill fish filets in ice water. Pour Louisiana Fish Fry Breading Mix into a container, leaving enough room to cover the fish. Remove a filet from the ice water and let it drip dry a bit. Dredge the filet in the fry mix, making sure fish is completely covered.

A typical Midwestern Friday fish fry may consist of beer-battered fish (oftentimes cod) served with tartar sauce, lemon wedges, and French fries (or German-style potato pancakes), coleslaw, and rye bread. Side Dishes: Chef John's French Fries or German Potato Pancakes. Restaurant-Style Coleslaw I.

Typically, food at a Lenten Friday fish fry is served at a church hall or other community center and involves fried (or baked) cod, perch, or similar fish. The food is usually prepared and served by members of the church.

Fish (and shellfish), unlike mammals and birds, are cold-blooded. Given that fish is a permitted food during Lenten Fridays, it has become a tradition in parts of the United States for churches to offer a fish-fry dinner during the Fridays of Lent.

In a 3-quart bowl, soak fish in milk for 15-20 minutes. The casein protein in milk binds to the trimethylamine in the fish flesh, reducing the “fishy” odor.

Fish fillets dusted with flour and cooked until crispy makes a simple yet satisfying dish. The flour browns nicely and creates just the barest hint of a crust on the fish. For this technique, all-purpose flour is often used, and this is a great way to start.

In Louisiana, fish is usually fried after coating with seasoned cornmeal (as in Zatarain's Fish Fri or Tony Chachere's Seasoned Fry Mix), or a mixture of cornmeal and corn flour (finely ground cornmeal) with Creole/Cajun seasonings like Louisiana Fish Fry.

What is fish fry seasoning? ›

It's a flavorful blend of cornmeal, garlic, salt and other spices traditionally used as a total seasoning for your favorite fish, oysters, shrimp, meat or vegetables.

Before you fry the fish in hot oil, season it with herbs and spices to enhance the fish's flavor. There are various ways to season fish before frying it. If you like southern-style catfish, try seasoning it with cornmeal. Or, if you'd prefer a simpler route, try seasoning whitefish with beer and breadcrumbs.

Egg yolk: Egg yolk is a power-packed food that is easy to make into preparation for newly hatched fry. Hard boil an egg, take the yolk and wrap in a small piece of gauze, compressing it so small portions protrude through the cloth. Hang it in the tank and the fry will feed off it.

Fish, Fridays & Lent

It simply meant abstaining from eating the flesh of warm-blooded animals—since the thinking goes, Jesus was a warm-blooded animal. Fish, though, which are cold blooded were considered okay to eat on fasting days.

German and Polish Catholic immigrants settled in Milwaukee in the 1860s and began the tradition of the Friday fish fry. During Lent, they didn't eat meat on Fridays, instead eating the fish they caught in Lake Michigan.

In the mid-1960s, the Catholic church changed the rules around abstaining from animal meat every Friday of the year and just required parishioners to do so on Fridays during Lent, but by then, “going out for fish” on Fridays was simply an integral part of Wisconsin life.

The practice of abstaining from meat during Lent typically refers to the flesh of warm-blooded land animals, such as cows, pigs, and chickens. Seafood, including oysters and clams, is not considered meat in this context and is often allowed as an alternative source of protein.