ARE WE BEING CATFISHED ON OUR CATFISH?

You know the story, we go out to eat and a plate of fresh fried catfish sounds so good. So we order the catfish because that's what the menu said it was, but are we really getting American raised catfish? The only "true catfish" in America.

Local Eats are the Best Eats!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Well, good afternoon. It is June the 14th, 2026, and straight from the Holly Cabinet studio, this is the Mad Food Critic Podcast. And I, Will Bryce, will be your host for the next uh let's call it 20 or 30 minutes. The subject matter that I have today is something that I really felt like needed to be uh not just discussed, but a really deep dive to clear up some misunderstandings that came about from a video I did on TikTok about American catfish versus imported. So today I hope by the end of this podcast there are no stones left unturned when it comes to the information that you need, not only as a consumer of catfish, but also as a restaurateur that serves catfish. I'm probably going to upset a few people along the way, but that's okay because this has to be said. This is a lesson that everyone needs to hear. Uh, it has health implications. And anytime something in the food industry has health implications, I feel like that is pretty darn important. So let's get into it. And the title of today's podcast is Do you know what catfish you're eating? So let's think about this. May ask you a question. When you order catfish at a restaurant, are you really eating catfish? Or did you get catfished? Or maybe you're eating something that looks like catfish that the restaurant sold to you on the menu as catfish, and they may a lot of times have it labeled as catfish. And this is a major faux pas. This uh, you're we're going to find out by the end of this program that that is actually illegal. But you know, if we talk about illegal and moral in today's times, I mean, come on. But most people have no idea whatsoever. And today we're going to talk about one of the biggest fish stories that Americans have never heard. Because not all catfish is created equal. Let's get into it. So, if you remember, I said in the video that there were health implications in the imported catfish and yada yada yada. So let's let's take a look into the history of catfish. Back in 2003, Congress passed a law that said imported fish like basa, sue, and uhceas, sorry, uh, could no longer be marketed in the United States as catfish. Why? Now, before I get into the textbook reason, there are a lot of misconceptions out there. There are those of the mindset that, well, the American catfish farmers they didn't want competition from imported catfish. Uh, they're just trying to make more money if they can no, that is all conspiracy theories. So I'm going to break it down for you. American catfish producers wanted consumers to know exactly what they were buying and more importantly, what they're eating. And honestly, I agree. Consumers deserve transparency in the food that we eat. If I'm ordering catfish, I want to know that it's American farm raised catfish or something imported from halfway around the world. American farm raised catfish is one of the most regulated aquaculture products in the United States. Most of it comes from Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisiana, aka the Deep South. For over 15 years, we served primeline catfish in my restaurant. Why was it because they gave us a special price or gave us uh posters to go on? No, there was none of that. It was because it was consistent, it was reliable, high quality, and it was every single time. American catfish is raised in private ponds, and the the brand that we used was Primeline out of Mississippi, scuba, Mississippi. And to it was the most consistent in size. If you ordered three to five fillets, which is what we used, they were always three to five fillets. You didn't get a mixed box of. So that five to eight during that time period was actually a smaller five to eight than normal. Uh, but they were still consistent within that guidelines of five ounces to eight ounces. So the the thing about American-raised catfish is it's raised in private ponds, so they can be controlled for quality. They are typically fed a very controlled diet of a pellet that is made of corn, soybeans, and wheat. And the other important part of this is it's a floating catfish food. Why would they do that? Why do they want the food to float if the catfish is a bottom feeder? Well, think about it. If you feed them food that sinks to the bottom, they're scooping up all the mud as they eat. But if you feed them floating catfish food, then the food stays up out of the mud, and you do away with that muddy taste in catfish that some people don't like. So that's why I say prime lime was a very clean, very consistent, uh, mild catfish. Um, people that didn't like catfish like our catfish, they don't use hormones, and antibiotics are rarely used in the American aquaculture of catfish, but every now and then something may happen and they have to use some antibiotics. But then there are strict withdrawal or harvest periods required uh to for waiting before you can harvest. The industry in the US is heavily regulated and inspected, and that is why American catfish has earned such a strong reputation. So I know in the back of your mind you're asking, well, what about the imported fish? So let's talk about the basa, the sue, and the pangasius. I'm gonna I chop that word up every time. Most of these fish are imported from Asia, particularly Vietnam. They're inexpensive, they're widely available because they farm them in these crowded ponds, and they're used heavily because restaurants are fighting to keep food costs down. That's the reality. But here's where the consumers need to pay attention. Imported fish entering the United States is inspected at a much lower rate than domestic catfish. There's so much coming in that there's no way that they could inspect even a large percentage of it. Production standards can vary because they're not regulated. Feeding programs can vary because they're not regulated. Raising conditions, the farming conditions, I mean, there's just so many unknown variables here. Why would you put your health at risk? Um, and that means that consumers should know exactly what they're buying because imported fish is not automatically bad, but because it doesn't have the regulations surrounding it to make sure that it is good. Do you really want to gamble with your health? So let's say it's a 50-50 chance. Do you want to take that chance for your health? If it's a 90-10, do you want to take that 10% risk with your health? I can tell you that I don't because you know, informed consumers make better choices. Now, here's the restaurant truth. And this was one of my frustrations over the years in food service sales was that listening to people tell restaurant owners that sway and basa and bingasius and American catfish are basically the same thing. They just can't call it catfish because it they have American catfish farmers have the legal right to call theirs catfish. There are over 2,000 species of catfish in the world. So while it may be of the same family, it's not the same. And the texture is not, I can tell you that the texture is not the same as American farm raised catfish. But when you look at just the harvesting and the and the farming methods alone, I'm sorry, I'm not taking that risk with my health. I'm just not going to gam take that gamble. But many of those people that tell the restaurants that, oh, it's the same, have never owned a restaurant, and they've never had to look a customer in the eye when the quality changes. They've never had to protect a reputation that took 20 years to build. Their job is selling a product. A restaurant owner's job is protecting the guest experience. Those are not the same thing. Ever. Here's something I learned after more than more than 40 years in food service. Restaurants that proudly serve American farm-raised catfish will usually tell you. They put it on the menu, they put signs on the wall, they advertise it. Why? Because they're proud of it. If a restaurant doesn't tell you what they're serving, here's the thing. Folks, I'm just telling you straight up, ask. Ask the server. And she can go to the kitchen, she can find a manager, she can find somebody in that kitchen that handles that product that knows what species is it, where does it come from? What brand are you buying? And if it's a good reputable restaurant, they shouldn't have a problem answering that question. And if they do, there's your problem. Here's a challenge for you. This is the buffet challenge. No, not going to see how much you can eat. Because I'm gonna say something here that may upset a few people. If you're eating catfish at one of those bargain buffets, you know what I'm talking about. There's a pretty good chance that it is not American farm-raised catfish. How do you know that, Will? Because the economics just simply don't make much sense to do that. Because American catfish costs more, and there's a reason that it costs more. Quality usually does. Now, understand this: the cheapest product on the truck is usually the most expensive product on the menu. Because, like I said, if you're not serving quality, how's your dining room look during lunch service? Was it full? Were they lined out the door? Now, this wouldn't be a mad food critic episode if I didn't tell you how to make it better at home. And this is gonna be a little bit of controversy because I know I have a lot of people that I know that are in the industry, that uh friends, family, what have you, and they will argue with me until the end of the day, or until I come to their home and I cook catfish, or they come to my home and I cook catfish for them, and they're like, Oh, wow, this is really different. How why does yours taste so different? I'm gonna tell you. First of all, you gotta thaw it properly. This is where a lot of restaurants make a mistake. You want to keep it in cold water, like in a tub, something of that, and drain the water every 30 minutes. So you take that frozen fillets, put them in a tub, cover them with water every 30 minutes, you drain the water off and put new water in. This keeps the catfish cold while it's thawing, but it also gives you a chance to rinse that catfish off very thoroughly. Once it's thawed enough to handle, you there's a thin line of fat around the edges, very thin line. And if you trim that thin line of fat off around the edges, it's you know, some people say, ah, that's really not that big a deal. It's gonna fry off. I beg to differ. Then you want to cut those fillets lengthwise into two similar pieces, not straight down the middle, because you're gonna get that little tail at the end that when you fry it, it's just gonna burn off. So if you will cut it at just a slight, slight angle, where you get two fairly identical pieces lengthwise, then you put the catfish in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours. Now, why are we doing this? This is uh this this is the part where most people I lose most people there they disagree. You want the fish to be dry, yes, dry, completely dry. The drier the fish, the crispier the crust. And that's the difference between good catfish and great fried catfish. And people say, Well, the breading won't stick. Wrong. That's the other problem. Your breading. Do not dip it in some sort of wet batter and then a dry batter because you're going to get this hard crust that is going to separate from the fish. If you don't believe me, next time you go out to eat catfish and you see that the breading has is basically it's not adhered to the catfish, it's just kind of encased it. That is a wet batter. That is a no. For breading, it's simple. Cornmeal, cornstarch, no flour. I know North Carolina, y'all like to put flour and everything, but cornmeal, cornstarch, salt, pepper, and your choice of seasoning, we always used Tony's Creole seasoning, or we affectionately called it Tony's Sacher's Creole, but we called it Tony's. So if you get that Tony's Creole seasoning, it's nothing fancy, it's just enough to give that fish a little flavor in the in the breading, and it that cornmeal and cornstarch combo will stick to that, and it's about three parts cornmeal, one part cornstarch, and then season to your liking. But that cornstarch will help the cornmeal stick to the actual fish, so it doesn't need to be wet because everybody knows that you don't put water in grease. And anytime you put something liquid in frying shortening, one, you're damaging your shortening, you're shortening the life, you're shortening the life of your shortening, so to speak. But yeah, you you don't put water in grease, and that's that's the other reason. So you want that fish to be dry, and I cannot stress that part enough. And then a dry breading, and then you will have the crispiest, flakiest catfish that you have ever had. We did it for 15 years. I know what I'm talking about. So the next time you order catfish, ask a question what species is it? Where did it come from? Is it American farm raise? Because knowing what you're eating isn't being a difficult patron, it's being informed. And when it comes to the food on your plate, that matters. I'm the Mad Food Critic, and until next time, know your food. Thank you for listening, and have a great day. Bye bye.