Today is a monumental day on Jake’s Tails, Tales, and Tips, as this is our first ever recipe post. For those of you that don’t know, my name has many hidden meanings, some of which you may or may not ever figure out, but one of them has to do with cooking. In the restaurant industry, it’s possible to order the “scraps” of a cleaned tenderloin, otherwise known as the “tails and tips”, hence Jake’s TAILS, Tales, and TIPS.
If you know me personally, than you know that I have a pretty extensive professional kitchen background. I’ve moved my way up through the ranks in a kitchen, as going to culinary school was my primary desire towards the end of high school. I pride myself in being technically advanced in the kitchen, as I studied the technical and molecular aspect of cooking in my own time. With that said, however, I’m no Michelin star chef, so don’t begin to praise me as a Rene Redzepi or Dan Barber. Let’s jump in…
Today’s recipe is a spinoff of a current popular recipe that is floating throughout the interwebs, especially amongst YouTubers like the Googan Squad. The basic idea is to take some fish, put the fish in some buffalo sauce, dredge the fish in some flour, and then fry. Today, that’s exactly what we are going to do. I will mention that I have not looked at the Googan Squad recipe, but rather have just watched them make it, and made my own recipe based upon the idea.
I should mention that this doesn’t just work with fish. In this recipe, I used wild caught tilapia, but any store bought white fish can work; you can also use this for frog legs, and even rattlesnake. Feel free to use any buffalo sauce that your heart desires, whether that is straight original Frank’s, Frank’s wing sauce, or some other sort of off brand or mixture; I personally will be using this Kroger Mild Wing Sauce. I do have a multitude of different buffalo sauces in my possession, including Frank’s, but this one caught my eye to try.
With the seasoned flour that we will be using, don’t skimp with the spices! Frying removes a large amount of flavor that the seasonings provide, and so a good amount of seasoning within the flour is needed.
Buffalo Fried Fish
6 Tilapia Filets
1 Cup Buffalo Sauce
1.5 Cups All Purpose (AP) Flour
0.5 Cup Maza (or Cornmeal)
3 Quarts Oil
1 tsp Pepper
1.5 tsp Paprika
1.5 tsp Chili Powder
1.5 tsp Cayenne
1.5 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tsp Onion Powder
Salt to taste
1.) Cut pieces of fish into smaller pieces. I prefer pieces that are more “strip” shaped.
2.) Place buffalo sauce into sealing bag or bowl, and place fish strips into the buffalo sauce. Let sit in sauce for about 30 minutes.
3.) Meanwhile, mix AP flour, maza, and spices in bowl. Set aside.
4.) After 30 minutes, remove pieces of fish from buffalo sauce and place into flour mixture. Cover the fish completely with flour mixture.
5.) Heat oil to 375 degrees F in deep fryer or deep pot. If you don’t have a thermometer, than this is about medium-high on your stovetop.
6.) Once oil is at temperature, place fish into oil and let cook for 4-6 minutes. Fish will begin to float to surface once finished cooking.
7.) Once fish is done cooking, remove from oil and place onto oil-absorbing material, such as paper towel.
8.) Season with salt once removed from oil.
I wouldn’t let the fish sit in the sauce for longer than an hour. Buffalo sauce is highly acidic, and the acid begins to essentially “cook” the fish, similar to how citrus juice cooks fish in ceviche. Use an oil with a high smoke point, such as canola or vegetable oil. This fish can be pan fried rather than deep fried as well. Cornmeal can be used instead of maza, but the texture will vary slightly (not in a bad way).
That’s it folks. This fish can be fried with some chips for some good fish n’ chip action (chip recipe to come…). Served with some good tartar sauce and lemon, this recipe is to die for.
If you liked the recipe ten be sure to go follow my other website Dedicated to Discipline, where I post all kinds of recipes. As always, I thank you guys for reading and I will see you all next time.