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First step is to toss the catfish in the trash and replace with snapper or grouper.
Second step is to revoke your Texas card. Catfish has always been a staple throughout the state and to address the topic posted as you did is pretty much piss poor despite your narrow view. Back to the OP's inquiry - traditional TX fried catfish relies at least where I grew up in the Hill Country on cornmeal with whatever spices - flour is not added. Frying in cornmeal renders a very crispy end result with a solid texture you cannot attain if flour is added.
Now to address any snobs in the room regarding farm raised catfish. Today it is hit or miss with respect to catfish you can purchase in a US store. An increasing amount of product comes from SE Asia which has no quality controls set but because of reduced prices compared to what US farmers can sell the US industry has been declining the last 15-20 years.
US catfish aquaculture is based on one species - the channel catfish. In nature, channel cats might be by taste good or bad depending on what they eat. US farm raised catfish are checked for flavor quality several times before they are processed. As a result it is a high quality product but due to imports and ***** assed non-informed PC bull**** opinions (looking right at you Leather) domestic catfish production has gone down to over half it was 20 years ago.
Now about flavor. Again, if you catch a channel cat from the wild the flavor of the meat will depend on what it has been eating. Yellow cats and blue cats are more distinctly fish eaters and as such their meat will be good pretty much every time. The thing about farm raised channels is the flavor is checked multiple times before processing.
And BTW A&M participated big time in the development of the US farm raised catfish industry and still supports research directed to refine and improve production.
