By Pip Fillingham, F/V Whatever
Prep time: 20 minutes
Soak time: 3 - 6 hours
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4
4 Alaskan halibut filets, thawed
3 eggs
⅓ cup milk
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon lemon pepper spice
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ sleeve Ritz crackers
⅔ cups all purpose flour
Remove halibut from the freezer at least four hours prior to use to thaw it.
Cut thawed fish into 2” x 3” thick pieces. You can slice horizontal-wise as well as length-wise.
Prepare a wash with 2/3 mixed eggs and 1/3 milk.
Add granulated garlic spice, lemon pepper and red pepper to the wash.
Soak halibut pieces in wash for 3 – 6 hours (depending on your schedule) in the fridge.
Make a mix of flour + crushed Club or Ritz crackers in a large bowl. Mix ratio: 2/3 all-purpose flour and 1/3 crushed crackers. Tip to crush crackers: put in bag and use rolling pin.
Add lemon pepper, black pepper and granulated garlic to the flour/cracker mix.
After it’s done soaking, dip the halibut into the flour mix. Coat on both sides. Set aside on plate.
Heat ¾ inch deep of vegetable oil in a pan. Oil will probably be 300 degrees or whatever.*
Drop halibut into oil carefully. Takes a minute to two minutes on each side to cook through.
Remove from frying pan and place onto plate with paper towel to absorb the oil. Keep doing it until all halibut is cooked.
Serve with tartar sauce.
In Captain Pip's Cordova, AK kitchen ready to feast on wild Alaskan Prince William Sound halibut.
Left to right: Captain Pip, Andrea, Adra, Margo
* ”or whatever” is a true Captain Pip-ism. So much so that his fishing vessel is named the Whatever. Captain Pip is a commercial fisherman in the Prince William Sound and Copper River fisheries.
Fun fact: Captain Pip married Alaska Fresh owners, Adra and Juro, on his F/V Whatever in the Prince William Sound. In Alaska, each resident can perform a wedding ceremony once without being ordained. This law exists because there are so many rural communities and homesteads in the state, and due to the long distances between lightly populated communities, it is not always possible for a judge or ordained individual to be present for a marriage. Adra and Juro's marriage certificate says Officiant: Cap'n Pip. Now that is Alaska Fresh.