Simplicity is the key. Good thick catfish filets (meaning filets greater than 9" long), coarse ground corn meal (coarse ground gets crispier in the lard), salt, lots of coarse ground black pepper, a dash of ground cayenne and Pan fry in lard. Deep frying won't be the same. Since the tail end of the catfish is thinner than the head end, I usually cut the filets in half at the back end of the belly area. That way I can take out the tail end earlier than the much thicker head end and you don't overcook the tail end. Out of habit, I start them in the pan on what would be the skin side of the filet. On the bigger cats, the skin side is where the "fat" and darker flesh lies. Flip it to the inner side and kinda scratch the skin side surface before flipping it again to the skin side to finish. The scratching allows some of the "fat" to render off and allow that side to crisp better. In that I have not fished for catfish in a few years, most of what we consume is Mississippi farm-raised. The fishmonger at Publix near the office knows what I want before I reach the counter! Occasionally, I'll get some bigger filets from a friend's son who is a commercial fisherman west of here.
