Throughout the South, but especially in the soul food restaurants of Nashville, hot fish is not just fish that is hot. It is fried fish—most often whiting fillets—that are served splotched with a daunting measure of red hot sauce. Hot fish almost always is served as a nominal sandwich, meaning the fillets are placed between two or four slices of white bread, but the fillets always are too large actually to hoist between bread, so the custom is to break off pieces by hand or, rarely, with a fork, using the bread to hold the fish and to dampen the heat of the sauce. Crisp-skinned and hugely succulent, well-fried whiting has forceful enough fish flavor that it cannot be eclipsed by Texas Pete, Frank’s Louisiana hot sauce, or Tabasco, no matter how much is applied. Slices of raw onion, dill pickle chips, and smooth yellow mustard are the standard complements. A full hot-fish dinner will include the sandwich, hushpuppies, coleslaw, and meat-sauced spaghetti.
A Giant King hot fish sandwich at Eastside Fish in Nashville.