Please help me figure out what I did wrong!

[RebeccaT]

Hi all, I need some technique help.

Last night I decided to make pecan-crusted tilapia, and to wing it since I didn't have a recipe (but I knew I had seen a few, which is why I thought I could wing it).

I let my tilapia "marinate" in some buttermilk while my pan heated up, and then I dredged it in a mixture of half pecan meal (which I made by processing some toasted pecans) and flour, with a tsp or two of Cajun seasoning. I then pan-broiled it in about a Tbs of olive oil. The flavor was GREAT, my problem is that the breading didn't stay on my fish. Most of it fell off when I flipped it - it wasn't sticking to the pan really (I am sure that I had enough oil) but it just hadn't adhered properly to my fish.

What did I do wrong?

TIA!

[funniegrrl]

Whenever I bread something like this, I find these crucial steps help:

First, dipping the meat into some lightly beaten egg white gives it something sticky to hold on to. Just a quick dip is enough.
Second, I don't "dredge" -- I pat the coating on very firmly, pressing on as thick a coat as I can.
Third, it helps to refrigerate (loosely covered) the coated pieces for 30 or 30 minutes before cooking. This lets it dry out a bit. I don't know that it helps the stickiness, but it sure helps it get crunchier in cooking.

Finally, you want to make sure your pan is hot enough and that you don't flip/turn too soon.

[stephanie678]

I'm not sure that you did anything wrong. However, the technique that works for me for a slightly different recipe (and keeps those wonderful panko crumbs on my tilapia) is the following: salt and pepper the fish; dredge it in flour; dip in beaten egg; and dip in panko. I don't know if it would work as well with pecans, but the panko is similarly sized and crunchy.

Mmm . . . pecan-crusted tilapia sounds really good right now!

[RebeccaT]

So was the buttermilk the problem? I have used it before to bind panko-coatings to chicken, so I thought it would work here. And I usually do flour before the liquid, but I didn't last night because I forgot until later and frankly have never understood what it was for. Refrigerating is a good idea, I'll try that next time!

[ttubbs]

I don’t think there is anything wrong with using buttermilk to marinate in necessarily. But, you do need something to glue the pecans to the fish though. So, I think you’d need to drain the fish well, and then follow a standard breading procedure. Meat is moist, so any liquid it is just dipped in will mostly just run off, be it buttermilk or beaten eggs. Dredging in flour first though, gives the liquid something to stick to, and that’s its purpose. Typically you’d dredge in flour, dip in beaten eggs, then in a breading. Eggs are a binder, due to the protein I guess, so they act like glue. I think you’d need the eggs for sure to glue the pecans to the fish. The buttermilk - panko only method works because the starch in the panko when it gets wet acts like a glue too. There really isn’t anything in the nuts that would do the same thing.

So, unless you think marinating in the buttermilk helps with flavor, it may not be necessary for what you were trying to accomplish. IMO, a quick dip just isn’t going to do much of anything. Still, I don’t think it was the problem as much as not following a standard breading procedure.

[kimszy]

We had the same thing last night. I used the Cooking Light recipe that follows and the breading stayed on (although I didn't get all of my pecans finely chopped and some of them came off). So I think if you would have drained the fish and then dredged in flour, buttermilk or egg and the pecans

Pecan-Crusted Tilapia
From Cooking Light


1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 (6-ounce) tilapia or snapper fillets
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
4 lemon wedges

Combine first 5 ingredients in a shallow dish. Combine buttermilk and hot sauce in a medium bowl; place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge 1 fillet in flour. Dip in buttermilk mixture; dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining fillets, flour, buttermilk mixture, and breadcrumb mixture.
Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 fillets; cook 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and fillets. Serve with lemon wedges.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 tilapia fillet)

[Hammster]

So was the buttermilk the problem? I have used it before to bind panko-coatings to chicken, so I thought it would work here. And I usually do flour before the liquid, but I didn't last night because I forgot until later and frankly have never understood what it was for. Refrigerating is a good idea, I'll try that next time!

Technically the buttermilk was not the problem. It was your technique. After removing from the buttermilk, pat the fish as dry as possible. Then lightly dredge in flour, shaking off excess. Then into beaten egg (combined with additional buttermilk if you like) and then into the Panko or nuts or whatever the final coating is to be.
The flour step is crucial because the wet eggs against the somewhat wet fish just won't stick. You have to have a dry surface (flour) for the egg to adhere to the fish.
An option to frying is bake in the oven. Less chance of the breading falling off. :D

[alicerh]

Yesterday Tyler Florence made some fried chicken which he dipped in buttermilk, flour, back in milk and the again in flour. Then he said to let it sit a while on a rack to dry. He said when cooking breaded food, steam builds up inder the breading and causes it to separate. Letting it dry out helps eliminate this. Makes sense to me.

[Chelle D]

We had the same thing last night. I used the Cooking Light recipe that follows and the breading stayed on (although I didn't get all of my pecans finely chopped and some of them came off). So I think if you would have drained the fish and then dredged in flour, buttermilk or egg and the pecans

Pecan-Crusted Tilapia
From Cooking Light




This is on my menu for tomorrow night so I am happy it was good!

[Jewel]

Yesterday Tyler Florence made some fried chicken which he dipped in buttermilk, flour, back in milk and the again in flour. Then he said to let it sit a while on a rack to dry. He said when cooking breaded food, steam builds up inder the breading and causes it to separate. Letting it dry out helps eliminate this. Makes sense to me.

Just another reason why I love Tyler.....yum. :p

[RebeccaT]

The flour step is crucial because the wet eggs against the somewhat wet fish just won't stick. You have to have a dry surface (flour) for the egg to adhere to the fish.


This makes a lot of sense to me. Now I know what the flour is for, and I won't skip that step again!

I also like the idea of letting the coating "dry" a little bit. Mmm. Fried chicken... :D