Pan Fried Barramundi Fillets

Lee

Only my opinion, but I like pan fried fish the best. This is as basic as it gets with this recipe, just 1 fish, some flour, and a pan with hot oil. This recipe goes from whole fish to fillets, to pan fried, nothing easier. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Course Main Dish

Cuisine American

Servings servings

Ingredients

1 whole Barramundi, you can find these in Tesco called Giant Sea Perch
all purpose flour, as needed
cooking oil
salt and pepper, to taste
tartar sauce, as needed, for serving, Shortcut

Instructions

First you need to get a Barramundi, these are commonly sold at Tesco but labeled as Giant Sea Perch or you can buy in most open markets.
Next thing you need to do is scale the fish. Grab a large spoon, and best to head outside for this part as it is messy. Using your spoon, start at the tail end work towards the head end, scrape the scales off, only takes a few minutes, scale the whole fish.
One your fish is scaled, now you need to fillet it. Using a narrow knife, cut just behind the gill plate then turn the knife 90 degrees so the edge is headed towards the tail, then cut along the back bone to the tail and you have one fillet. Turn the fish over and repeat this. Now you have your two fillets but you have rib bones to remove, you can either scrape them out to leave just a tiny bit of meat or just cut the rib section out, easy! This photo is two fillets ready for cooking.
After filleting the fish, rinse it under the tap. Now feel the skin side and remove stray scales that did not come off with the spoon. This is important as biting into scale is a real appetizer killer.
Heat the oil of your choice in a large heavy pan, you do not need it smoking, just hot. If your oil is not hot, it goes right into the fish.
Place some flour on a plate, a couple of spoonfuls, coat the fillets in the flour. Place each fillet in the oil, season with salt and pepper to your liking. When the fillet starts to get golden brown around the edges (should only take 4-5 minutes) then carefully flip the fillet and cook the other side also until that is golden brown.
Remove from the pan and put on a plate, add a side or two of your choosing, and enjoy.

Notes

One Barramundi, in Tesco, costs 102 Baht, this is per fish, not per kilo, two servings is about $1.50 per meal, which is reasonable.

If you can find this fish in an open market, the vendor will be happy to fillet for you for free.

Shortcut: Tartar Sauce.