Why is flour no longer used to coat fish before saute?

Although a majority of customers just ordered, ate, paid and left, a significant number of them were pleased enough to extend their compliments to the chef. I'm talking about twenty five years of cooking for the public, nine of them at a very busy seafood restaurant where the customers could watch the fish being unloaded from the boat. Where they all simply missing some esoteric point?

a Whole Foods Market Customer
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6 Comments

ChefJune
ChefJune October 10, 2011
I use flour for coating a fish before frying... That is, when I don't use corn meal. Don't buy Wondra, either. If I want a finer flour, I whirr some organic unbleached in the food processor to make it finer. (This also works for sugar, but don't put that in your fish coating!)
 
healthierkitchen
healthierkitchen October 10, 2011
I have used Wondra, and also, rice flour, a la Paul Joseph:
http://www.food52.com/recipes/4385_meen_porichathu_fried_fish
 
amysarah
amysarah October 9, 2011
Not sure I understand the original question, but Wondra has been around and used for sauteeing - fish, chicken, veal scallopini, etc. - for many years. I recall my mother using it routinely back in the '60's...way before fish got fancy ;)
 
inpatskitchen
inpatskitchen October 9, 2011
I agree with both pierino and cookbookchick...I panic when there's no Wondra in the cupboard!
 
cookbookchick
cookbookchick October 9, 2011
You can see Eric Ripert's method right here, a food52 "genius recipe"! Here's the link: http://www.food52.com/blog/2316_le_bernardins_crispyskinned_fish

But I must add, I still use a light coating of regular flour if there's no Wondra at hand.
 
pierino
pierino October 9, 2011
I use superfine flour aka Wondra all the time for sauteeing fish. But then so does Eric Ripert who runs the best seafood restaurant in the country, La Bernadin (three Michelin stars). See for example his recipe for "pan roasted cod basquaise" in his new book AVEC ERIC.
 
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