Fried fish is so popular in Ghana. It is served with waakye, fried plantain and beans or kenkey. So learning how to fry fish is an important necessity in my culture. I rarely got access to fish in Toronto so this is a rare opportunity. The most common fish here is red fish but I found the long silver fish that resembles herring and mackerel.
The very first step to getting great, tasty fish is to clean the fish. By this I mean removing scales and any internal organs. Next, cut the fish into equal pieces. Then I tossed the fish in seasoned flour to make it more crispy but cornstarch is way better. The next best alternative is potato starch. Fry the fish in batches on high heat until it is very browned and crispy looking. The longer you fry it, the better the fish would taste actually. Another good tip is doing it in batches. Overcrowding the pan lowers the oil temperature and makes the fried fish soggier. So I like to place 4-5 pieces of fish at a time in the pan. I highly recommend a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or a steep saucepan to fry fish.
Ingredients
2 whole fish, scaled and fins removed
2 teaspoons table salt
1 tablespoon garlic pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1/2 cup self-rising flour
2 cups cooking oil
Instructions
- Heat the oil until it is very hot in a steep saucepan until the temperature reaches 350°F/175°C.
- Mix the salt, garlic pepper, onion powder, parsley until smooth and rub it over the fish. Whisk in the flour.
- Dip each fish into the flour bowl from the previous step, and fry in batches on high heat until crispy-looking for about 10 minutes on each side.
- Let the fried fish cool on a wire rack.
