Name: Pan-Fried Trout
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour; 1/2 cup fine-ground cornmeal; Salt and ground black pepper; 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 2 large eggs; 2 - 3 cups vegetable oil; 4 trout fillets with skin on (5 to 7 ounces each); Lemon wedges

Why This Recipe Works

For our best pan-fried trout recipe, we found that fillets weighing 5 to 7 ounces were the easiest to bread, fry, and serve, with each fillet serving as one portion. Although several recipes instructed us to remove the skin, we found it necessary to keep the skin intact to prevent the flesh from falling apart. For the coating for our pan-fried trout recipe, dusting the fish with flour, dipping it in an egg wash, then dusting it with cornmeal (known as a three-stage or bound breading) produced a crisp, crackling crust that held up long enough for us to serve and eat the fish.

Before You Begin

Although we used an 11-inch sauté pan with sides 2 1/2 inch high during our tests with no problem, we recognize the danger in heating oil to 400 degrees on the stovetop. Just to be safe, we recommend using a Dutch oven with sides at least 5 inches high. The oil will still splatter, however, and should not be left unattended. Use any variety of trout available. We had good luck with red rainbow, white rainbow, and golden trout.

Instructions

Set a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet, place the sheet on the middle oven rack, and heat the oven to 200 degrees. Place 1/2 cup flour in a wide, shallow dish. In a separate wide, shallow dish, mix together the remaining 1/2 cup flour, cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cayenne. In a third shallow dish, whisk the eggs with 1 tablespoon of oil until uniform.

Pat the fish fillets dry with paper towels and sprinkle each side with salt and pepper to taste. Drop the fish into the flour and shake the dish to coat. Shake the excess flour from each piece, then, using tongs, dip the fillets into the egg mixture, turning to coat well and allowing the excess to drip off. Coat the fillets with the cornmeal mixture, shake off excess, and lay on another wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet.

Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over high heat until the oil reaches a temperature of 400 degrees. (The oil should not smoke but it will come close.) Lay two trout fillets in the oil and fry, turning once, until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Adjust the heat as necessary to keep the oil between 385 and 390 degrees. Remove the fillets from the oil with a slotted spoon and lay them on a plate lined with several layers of paper towel; blot to help remove any excess oil. Transfer the fried fish to the wire rack in the warm oven. Bring the oil back to 400 degrees and repeat the cooking process with the remaining fish fillets. Serve the fried fish immediately with either lemon wedges or dipping sauce.