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Barbequed Catfish with Summer Grilled Corn Relish

Grilled catfish fillets served with a corn relish of grilled corn, garlic, tomatoes, and bell pepper.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Catfish and garlic work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 133 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

  • For the catfish
  • For the corn relish
  • For grilling catfish

Directions

Prepare the catfish

  1. Marinate the catfish by mixing 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon pure chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar, and 2 1/2 teaspoons paprika in a small bowl; spread evenly over both sides of the fillets, place on a dish, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

  2. Prepare charcoal for grilling about 1 hour before serving and let burn until coals are hot.

Make the corn relish

  1. Prepare the corn relish: brush 2 ears of corn lightly with 2 1/2 teaspoons fruity olive oil, lay on the grill rack over the hot coals, grill turning often until golden on all sides, cool, then cut kernels from the cobs into a large bowl (about 1 1/3 cups).

  2. Heat the remaining olive oil in a small skillet over medium‑low heat, add 2 large cloves garlic, cook stirring often about 10 minutes or until very soft and fragrant, cool, and add to the bowl of corn kernels.

  3. Cut 2 large ripe tomatoes in half, squeeze out seeds and discard, dice the tomatoes (about 1 1/3 cups), then add the tomatoes and 1 large green bell pepper diced to the corn mixture; mix in 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; taste and adjust seasonings if desired.

Grill and serve

  1. Grill the catfish: brush the marinated fillets with olive oil, lay on the grill over the hottest part of the fire, after about 30 seconds turn the fillets 90 degrees and grill the same side for 30 seconds longer, move to a cooler part of the fire and cook 2 minutes longer on that side, turn over and cook 3 to 4 minutes on the other side or until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork; just before the fillets are done, brush with barbecue sauce.

  2. Place the grilled catfish on serving plates, spoon the corn relish over them, and garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Catfish + garlictop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together133 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

  2. Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together14,164 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Cumin + tomatotop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together3,272 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Garlic + tomatotop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together14,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Cumin + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together5,083 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Catfish fillets
Provide the main protein, which turns flaky and opaque as it cooks over the fire.
Corn
Adds sweetness and charred flavor when grilled before being cut into the relish.
Garlic
Softened slowly in oil, it becomes mellow and aromatic for the relish.
Tomatoes
Add moisture and fresh acidity to the relish once seeded.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the relish and balances the sweetness.

The step that matters

Grilling the catfish in stages. Fish is delicate and can dry out or stick if overcooked. Searing over the hottest part first and finishing on cooler coals lets the fillets cook through gently, and brushing barbecue sauce near the end avoids burning its sugars.

Flavor stand-ins for the cumin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, sugar, catfish, corn, olive, garlic, tomato):

  1. Basilbetter flavor fit
  2. Corianderabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Oreganoabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Cuminthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, sugar, catfish, corn, olive, garlic, tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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