The best fish batter recipe, ‘Duane’s Northwood Fish Fry Recipe’,  was given to me by my mother-in-law, who lives in Wisconsin.  Of course, living in Wisconsin, they would have great fish recipes!   Dave’s love of fishing is shared by his entire side of the family.  As a very young boy, he would fish for hours with his parents, his brothers, and especially his grandmother.  He still fishes for hours by himself, with his buddies, and with our boys.  The boys have the bug, too, but not as seriously as their dad.

 

   I do not share this bug, although I have gone with him just to take pictures of the lake, the man, and the scenery.  Dave and I are opposites in so many ways, but our core beliefs and values are the same.  He has the freedom, (most of the time), to go on his many fishing and hunting trips and he allows me the same freedom to do my many creative projects. Obviously, it works!  We have been married for thirty-nine years!

 He Fillets His Fish

   When we first got married, Dave would clean the fish, but not necessarily fillet them.  I explained to him that I did not want the bones!  So he graciously began filleting all the fish he caught.  I can’t imagine how many fish this man has filleted in his lifetime!  I can always tell when his buddies help fillet the fish, there are always little bones left.  By filleting them, cutting off any dark belly meat, and washing them in clear water for several minutes, there is not a fishy taste in the final product.  He actually puts them in a bowl, runs water over them, and squeezes them with his hand, agitating them, kind of like a washer.

    Dave has his own recipe for fish breading, which I shared in an earlier post when he had caught some Walleyes, but Duane’s Northwood Fish Fry Recipe is my personal favorite batter recipe.  It has a bit of a lemony pepper flavor that is quite pleasing.

 Duane’s Northwood Fish Fry Recipe is very simple and you probably have the ingredients for this fish batter recipe in your pantry right now.

Duane’s Northwood Fish Fry

•                                       1 cup flour                                            
•                                          1 tsp. salt                                              
•                      1 Tblsp. lemon pepper                        
• 1 tsp. pepper
•  2 Tblsp. lemon juice
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• water

   Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Add lemon juice and the egg.  Add just enough water and stir until you have the consistency of a pancake batter.

 

   Dip the fillets in the batter or put the fillets in the batter in the bowl,  (This is my preference.) and completely cover with batter.  Remove the fillets with tongs and fry in a hot skillet with oil.  * I use sunflower oil and just a little olive oil.  Fry until golden brown and cooked through.  A regular-sized panfish fillet won’t take very long!

 

Tip

*  We had run out of vegetable oil the other day and to save a trip to the store, we fried some fish and used canola oil.  That oil did not fry the fish very well at all.  Dave had complained about canola oil before, but I wasn't convinced.  Okay, the oil did not brown the fish very well at all.  The flavor was not very good either.   No, we won't be using it again.

    Try this recipe from the Northwoods and see if you don’t agree it’s the best fish batter recipe!

Additional Shrimp Dishes

Paella     Easy Cajun-Shrimp    Shrimp Dinner With Flavored Rice

     Shrimp In Wine Sauce