Fried Grouper Fingers

One of my absolute favorite fish species to cook and eat is grouper. The meat texture is light and firm which allows for numerous cooking techniques. Today you can get a super easy but very delicious recipe, fried grouper fingers. It is not really fingers, but slender fillet slices from two to several inches long, depending upon the fillet size.

The grouper is simply an excellent fin fish for cooks and home chefs to work with, since the meat is so forgiving and delicious. You can cook with the fillets, cheeks, throat, backbone and head, depending upon what fish recipe you will be creating.

How to Cook Fried Grouper Fingers  

Frying grouper fingers is a quick, simple and easy recipe. First you will want to catch or go out and buy the freshest grouper fillets you can find. If your local fish and seafood market does not have fresh fillets, you can use nice frozen fillets. You may even ask the seafood market to go ahead and cut the meat into finger shape sizes to save you some time when you get back home.

Ingredients:

• 2 to 3 pounds of fresh grouper fillets cut into slender strips
• corn meal mix
• salt
• pepper
• vegetable oil

First thoroughly rinse the grouper finger cutlets with fresh water to cleanse the meat. Then pat dry with a clean towel and let sit on a plate. Next take a plastic or brown paper bag and pour in corn meal mix. Probably pour in a couple of cups of corn meal to start. Next you can season the fillet cutlets with salt and pepper to taste. Next you will need to heat up a cast iron skillet or other skillet with about a half inch of vegetable oil. Heat the oil to about medium on your stove. Once the skillet and oil is heated, you will want to place several grouper fingers into the corn meal mix and shake up until the grouper meat is covered with the corn meal. Then gently take out one at a time, while tapping against the bag to shake off excess corn meal, and place into the hot grease. Place as many fish pieces into the hot grease as you are comfortable with at one time. Periodically turn the fish pieces in the hot cooking oil so that all sides are cooked evenly. Approximate cooking time for each piece is about 3 to 6 minutes, depending upon temperature and thickness of fish pieces. Or, you can wait until golden brown. Take out of skillet and place onto a plate that has been draped with paper towels, to soak up excess cooking oil.

That is all there is to it. This is a simple, yet very delicious fish recipe. You can certainly use different spices instead of salt and pepper. You may want to try a cajun seasoning or Old Bay seasoning for a little spice.