Cooking walleye

I bought fresh walleye at whole foods today, on sale, and I am planning on pan frying it. I was browsing recipes and most said to fry with a combo of butter and olive oil, but I thought, why not crisco? Can anyone convince me otherwise?

Butter and olive oil taste better to me, but that's just personal preference.

I was just up on Lake Superior for a little vaca and one of the several family owned fisheries near us had freshly caught walleye at $8/lb. I cooked with it or whitefish everyday we were up there. Pan fried walleye is still one of my three or four favorite fishes to eat. I searched some recipes and alot of them were leading me to cook it the way many do in Minnesota where its their unofficial state fish and this is the unofficial state dish. That's pan fried with a crushed up ritz cracker coating. I also added some slivered almonds into the mix and the sandwiches turned out great. I pan fried the fish in a mix of bacon grease with added olive oil added in when needed. Fantastic.


Ritz Cracker Crusted Walleye Sandwich

I know Hagen's has it now and then. Where else do people see fresh walleye for sale? This will be something I want to have again one Sunday soon as football season is all but here. Thanks.

Hagen's has fresh walleye pretty regularly from the Canadian side of Lake Erie. Winter might be a different matter, though.

Da Beef wrote:That's pan fried with a crushed up ritz cracker coating.

Is that dip in flour-egg wash-crushed ritz crackers or something simpler? I've never had this and am intrigued.

Ontario fish camp al fresco shore lunch preparation:

1) melt 2 pounds of lard in a deep cast-iron frying pan and bring up to 350 - 370 frying temp

2) place fish filets in a bag filled with breading composed of 1/2 part crushed Frosted Flakes and 1/2 part crushed corn flaes and salt and pepper to taste, blow up the bag and shake the filets until they are well-coated

3) carefully place the filets in the hot lard and when the filet cooks to golden brown on both sides, serve with white bread, dill pickle slices, tartare sauce and/or hot sauce, and sliced fresh onions.

A meal fit for a king.

Davooda

Shore lunch is definitely the way to go (with beans and tater tots). My favourite dredging to use is dried potato flakes or just plain corn meal, depending on how much of a crust you want.

Binko wrote:

Da Beef wrote:That's pan fried with a crushed up ritz cracker coating.

Is that dip in flour-egg wash-crushed ritz crackers or something simpler? I've never had this and am intrigued.

I just beat a couple eggs, dipped the filets in that followed by a bath in the crushed ritz crackers and a trip to the frying pan. Very simple process that creates a very tasty sandwich.

Hi,

I am a three-bowl girl:
1) flour
2) beaten egg
3) crumbs

The flour gives something for the egg to cling to before you roll it in crumbs.

If I fry fish, I bring the temp to 375, then put the fish it. The moment the fish hits, it cools the oil briefly. Yet not cool enough that the oil is absorbed rather than frying. If it is too cool, the oil just soaks in.

I am also a Canadian method devotee when it comes to timing fish cooking: for every inch thickeness equates to 10 minutes total cooking time. Thinner or thicker, it is all proportional to this rule.

Happy eating!

Regards,

I just made some fresh walleye that was caught in Lake Michigan. Very good. I made a milk and egg wash. First I dipped it in dry buttermilk pancake flour like Aunt Jemimas. Supposedly this browns better and has more flavor than regular flour. Then I dipped it in the egg and milk wash. Then I dipped it in crushed ritz cracker crumbs that I had added a variety of seasonings to. I pan fried it in half butter and half olive oil. Very good.

One of the biggest mistakes is not letting the fat get hot enough. I've learned to bring a thermometer along for trips up north. The fish is so good when cooked properly that it is a big letdown when it is not.

If you pan fry it instead of deep frying it it might be easier. I put mine in a teflon pan and pann fried it. It was very good. I still have some in the freezer to cook. Yummy.

I didn't get it today, but Piccolo Sogno Due has a walleye sandwich on its lunch menu (!). Based on the extremely well-executed swordfish sandwich I had, whoever is on the fish station at lunch knows what he/she is doing. I'll try to remember to give it a go next time (it's right across Wacker Dr.from BigLaw LLP, hence a <5 min walk away). Here's the description, and it sounds delicious:

LUCCIO 15
Crispy walleye, whole grain mustard aioli, pickled red onion, spinach

As mine did, this sandwich comes with really delicious piping-hot rosemary/Parmesan fries, and plenty of them. Great service, too.

Piccolo Sogno Due
340 North Clark Street
Chicago IL 60654
312-822-0077

For me nothing beats beer battered Walleye simply because that is how I had it as a kid. However now when I make it at home, which is rare since my wife isn't the biggest Walleye fan, I usually season it with salt and little Penzey's northwoods seasoning (just a touch though...don't want to ruin the delicate taste) and sautee it.

My mom used to use pancake batter made with beer instead of water. She'd make it a thinner consistency and then dredge the fish in the batter then into a bowl of crushed up rice krispies and a little salt. It was always really good with Walleye and Perch

Like others, my wife won't eat walleye & I love it, when cooked right. And it WAS cooked right last Friday at L. Woods in Lincolnwood, an almond-crusted fillet of beauty almost a foot long. Last time I had walleye as good was at The Sky Club in Plover, WI--it almost seemed prepared the same way, with a fairly crunchy but thin crust. I must try pan-frying it sometime.

The fish I had was a pure white fish fillet really delicate and no fishy taste. It would be hard to see how someone would not like it unless they hated fish.

We have a copy of a book entitled "Northwoods Fish Cookery" by a guy who was a fishing guide and cook at the Gunflint Lodge in the Boundry Waters. If you want to take Walleye and Northern Pike to the next level it is a good place to look. They still have a couple of copies available on Amazon.

We make our walleye chinese style a lot. Steamed with ginger and green onion. Cook it on a plate inside a steamer. Personally I like the fish whole, but it works for slabs of fish too.

Here's a two minute youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6BnMR0wfSE

Kenji--

Thanks for the video link. Karen Lee has the same recipe+technique, but with one addition: she puts a bit of hoisin into the marinade. I kind of like the touch of sweetness and flavor added. We can get whole bass here in Montréal that work perfectly in this recipe.

Geo

Yeah I just like the essence of fish prepared this way. You get full fish flavor. Although I do like a fried fish, to me the batter and oil choice when frying masquerades the yumminess of a fresh fish.

Exactly right.

Geo