Week 31: Breading/Dredging - Panko-Sesame Crusted Cod [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: Plainly and simply, breading is the process of coating a food with a dry, grain-based coating to achieve a crispy exterior when cooked. This contrasts with battering, which involves a liquid coating. Coatings could include anything from bread crumbs or cornmeal, to even crazier things Cap'n Crunch or Cheetos. You could go a classic route and try some Classic Fried Chicken, or maybe make your own Mozzarella Sticks. There are countless things you can bread, those to come to mind pretty quickly though.

Breading definitely takes some practice to get the dry hand/wet hand method down, but becomes very easy once you get a rhythm going.
After patting the cod down with a paper towel, I dredged them through:

1. Flour
2. Two eggs whisked
3. A mixture of panko breadcrumbs, roasted sesame seeds, garlic salt, and pepper

After they were coated, I left them in the fridge for about an hour. This is definitely not necessary (I only did it because I wasn't quite ready to eat), but I found the breading stayed on better after firming up in the fridge. I pan fried the fillets in some coconut oil on the stove for about three minutes, browning both sides, and then moved the whole pan to the oven and baked for ten minutes at 425F, flipping once halfway through.

They're served with jasmine rice and a drizzle of balsamic glaze.