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I'm making flamenquin this evening and don't have any breadcrumbs available (apart from under the toaster, but some are suspicious). Has anyone ever used polenta instead of breadcrumbs to coat meat?

Thanks!

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  • I've never used it in place of breadcrumbs. I've made cornmeal batters when frying stuff, but the cornmeal has a chance to soak up some moisture so it's not overly crunchy. I've had fried fish where there was an obvious crunch from cornmeal and it wasn't necessarily bad, just different. – Joe Jul 06 '15 at 18:12
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    I've coated tilapia in dry cornmeal with some seasoning and then pan fried it and it's fine... I mean, it's definitely got some added texture but it didn't break my teeth. – Catija Jul 06 '15 at 20:13

1 Answers1

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You can use definitely use polenta/cornmeal for breading, but it'll tend to be noticeably more crunchy than breadcrumbs are.

An obvious comparison is cornmeal fried fish. People make it multiple ways: some just dredge in cornmeal so it'll add a definite crunch, while others use a batter which will soften it up. The moisture from whatever you've coated matters too. I'm guessing pork loin isn't going to release a whole lot of water, but if you're marinating it perhaps you'd get some from there.

Since polenta is coarser, I'm guessing you might want to err on the side of caution, to avoid crunchy turning into gritty.

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