Mustard and Hot Sauce Binder Fried Catfish

I’ve always loved fried catfish. Heck, I love just about anything that swims when fried. My go-to for fried fish has always been dry fillets dropped straight into a seasoned cornmeal breading before hitting the hot grease. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

This one is a different take on the standard breaded fried catfish, and it gives it a bit of extra zing. Images by author

But not long ago, I was watching one of my favorite YouTube channels, Dat Louisiana Life. Kieth, Tara, and Drake live, work and play in south Louisiana, one of my favorite places on the planet. They spend as much time as possible at their riverboat camp, often cooking up the day’s harvest. If you enjoy seeing a family experience and love the great outdoors, give it a watch.

When they cook catfish, they add a step. Instead of going straight into the breading, they coat the fillets with a thin layer of yellow mustard and hot sauce. So I tried it their way. The results were interesting. First, the binder helped hold a slightly thicker layer of breading on the fish, making for a much crispier finished product. Next, the mustard and hot sauce gave the finished dish a bit of extra zing.

Now, I’m not a huge yellow mustard fan. If you are in the same boat, don’t worry. The mustard flavor almost disappears. Instead, you get a little extra in every bite, a sharp, bright flavor you don’t get with just straight fish.

One thing I did notice, the thicker crust doesn’t stick quite as well to the fish. Take care when you turn or move the fillets in the pan. You can deep fry these or pan fry, whichever you prefer.

The method is simple. Pat your fish dry and give it a good squirt of yellow mustard.

Squirt regular yellow mustard on the catfish fillets.

Follow that with several dashes of your favorite hot sauce. I use Crystal.

Add a bit of your favorite hot sauce to your preferred taste level.

Now, get in there with your hands and smear everything together. Make sure the fish is well coated on all surfaces.

Gently work the mustard and hot sauce around to evenly coat the fish.

From there, it is back to the standard catfish breading strategy. Gently move the fillets, one or two at a time, into a seasoned cornmeal based breading mixture. Or, if you have a favorite, make your own. Make sure all surfaces of the fish are well coated with breading.

Dredge the coated fillets in your favorite seasoned fish breading.

Fry as you usually would. I pan fried these in cast iron, but I think deep frying might help the thicker crust stick better since you don’t have to flip the fish midway through the process.

Deep or pan fry in hot oil.

The results are a super crispy bite with lots of flavor. Eat it by itself as a main course or pile it high on a catfish po boy sandwich.

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