So it is based on just a stupid simple breading recepie. But apparently I nailed it this time. She has been raving about it since. It was made out of smallmouth bass this time but can work for anything.
1 - tube saltine crackers ran through a food processor till crumbs
2/3 cup - plain panko crumbs
1/2 cup - flour
The following are the seasonings I added, some more than others. The first 3 had a tablespoon or so, the next 2 had half a tablespoon or so, the rest just had a pinch or whatnot
Black Pepper
Lemon Pepper
Garlic Powder
Dill
Seasoning Salt
Chili powder
Itallian seasoning
Mix all of the crumbs, flour, and seasoning in a dish, then scramble a few eggs in another dish.
then I pan fried in about 1/4 inch worth in the pan of canola oil. Almost used butter instead but my wife has been complaining about trying to cook a little healthier. lol.
Key thing that I did that made it extra crispy on the breading this time compared to normal is I did a double layer of breading.
warm up the pan, add oil, run the fish through eggs that are mixed in a dish, then let excess egg drip off the fish for a second, cover in crumbs, then take it back through the egg a second time, then the crumbs again, then fry for a couple minutes per side till golden. Gently use a spatula to turn and remove the fish so the breading does not crumble off or so the fish does not all fall apart.
Also, in order to get the best results every time, do one batch in the pan in clean oil, then when they are done, if you have more you should dump the oil, wipe the pan clean and start from the beginning again with a clean pan and clean oil. If not then the second batch will have extra tid bits of burned breadding and such that fell off in the pan from the first batch.
