Walleye

I was shipped a freshly caught Walleye from Lake Michigan from family members who live on the like as a gift. I've never had Walleye before, so I do not know what to expect with texture, flavor profile, or cooking techniques.

Any suggestions from the ChefSteps community? Sousvide, pan fry, oven bake.... I'm open to any and all ideas!

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Comments

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Fish and chips. All the way.

TLDR: Walleye cooks up pretty much exactly like cod. I'd never had Walleye until I moved to NW Ohio, home of the Toledo Walleye hockey team. Fans would throw raw Walleye on the ice during hockey fights. On local menus, it was mostly fried (deep or pan) but I also saw blackened and walnut crusted versions on the menu at Real Seafood in Toledo and Ann Arbor. But I would either pan fry in clarified butter or bread it and deep fry. It's a standard whitefish, and I'd treat it as such. It can be delicious, but it's not especially fatty or flavorful. My non-fish-and-chips prep would just be S&P and garlic powder with a pan fry in clarified butter (or browned butter). Not "special" in the cheffy sense, but delicious nonetheless.

tshewman

Brandon is spot on (per usual). I would lean toward a lemon butter poach. The pan fry does work nicely, but room for error is usually minimal with pickerel/walleye. Deep fried is about the only way I ate it as a child (I greww up in Ontario and my father loved to fish and brought this home often) but my tastebuds have changed a great deal.

ttpoker

How about a sous vide lemmon-butter poach, with a pan sear finish? Do you think this will work better than a pan poach?

tshewman

Yes, Personally I think it would be much beter. Not sure of he size of your fish/fillets, but they typically aren't huge, so even pan poaching can be finicky (although if you put a plate on the bottom of the pan, that will take it away from the direct heat).

ttpoker

Its 1/2 of the fish's side, so its a full sized fillet that I will need to portion out first. On the bright side this gives me a shot at multiple presentations, lots to work with at around lbs.

tshewman

Unfortunately can't read the post in it's entirety but saw it was a 1/2 fish side? Typically Walleye's are not a thick fish. Also, you may want to check the fish for....um not so nice stuff. Not to cause concern, but with the recent water issues in Flint and other areas. Worth asking where it was obtained and check the water quality via web. IMHO.