I'm almost embarrassed to post this recipe because it was so simple to make. I had purchased some halibut fillets wanting to cook them in a completely different manner, but my mother convinced me to pan fry them since that's her favourite way to eat fish. I didn't know how breaded pan-fried halibut would taste, and I was a bit nervous about the outcome. I shouldn't have worried. The fish came out delicious.
- The most important thing was to make sure the fillets were completely dry before being prepared for cooking. So I washed them well and then patted them dry with paper towels.
- Next, I seasoned them with salt and pepper.
- I got the frying pan ready: a nice heavy one, large enough to accommodate the fillets and have room to spare. They should not be overcrowded while being cooked. I poured some good vegetable oil into the pan, enough so that it would reach about 1/4 up the sides of the halibut fillets.
- I prepared three bowls. In one bowl I poured some flour. In the another I beat an egg along with the juice of half a lemon. Then I chopped a large basil leaf and added it to the egg mixture. In a third bowl, I poured some panko breadcrumbs. Panko is good to use here, because it doesn't absorb too much oil and because it stays crunchy after cooking.
- I waited for the oil to heat up in the pan and then I dipped each fillet first in the flour, then in the egg mixture and then in the breadcrumbs.
- As soon as each fillet was well coated on both sides, I placed it in the frying pan. I cooked each side until it was browned, then I placed the halibut on a serving platter.
- The last step was to sprinkle just a little lemon juice on each fillet. Yup, never forget the lemon juice. It's a Greek thing. Greeks are obsessed with lemons and lemon juice: good in savory foods good in desserts, makes one's hands really soft, deodorizes the kitchen, and I think sprinkling a little lemon juice on laundry will make it come out of the washing machine a lot cleaner... well, I haven't actually tried lemon juice on laundry, but who knows, there might be something to it.
- To keep things tidy while frying, I used the same hand to do the dipping in the flour, egg and breadcrumbs. I kept my other hand clean so I could use it to touch surfaces and utensils without leaving spots of batter all over them. That's a really neat trick!
- The halibut came out moist, not greasy at all, and it made a great dinner.
