Why is it that when we think of food from the South, we think of fried food. These Southerners are ready to fry anything, aren’t they? Well, yes and no. Frying is not so much a question of region as it is a question of poverty.
The poor in the South may not have a luxury kitchen, but you can bet they have a frying pan, a heat source and lots of lard. We can thank the slaves for the Southern Fried Chicken. Otherwise, we might end up on Sunday with a boring dinner of tasteless boiled chicken. Here in America, we owe a debt of flavor to the influence of slaves on Southern cuisine. The Scots, Irish and English who settled in the south tended to turn away from the bolder seasonings of Africa. Whatever the reason, as soon as we associate “Southern” and “Deep Fried”, it is more than an acceptable form of cuisine, it evokes visions of delight and makes us salivate. Fried fish. Fried chicken. Silent puppies. You get to the point.
Ingredients
2 cups of Cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
4 pounds of lobster tails, cleaned in their shells
2 pts of oil for frying
Directions
In a one-gallon zipper bag, mix corn flour, flour, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Shake well.
Clean lobster tails while keeping the tail in the shell. Set aside.
Heat the vegetable oil in a deep fryer or in a large, deep pan, such as a cast iron skillet. The oil should reach 365 degrees.
Place half of the lobster tails in the bag, shake well to completely coat the tails. Remove the tails, place them on a grid over a tray to catch any drops and keep the work area clean. Repeat with remaining tails.
Fry one lobster tail at a time in oil for about 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Let the fried tails dry on paper towels.
