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Serves: 4-5
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 5-10 mins
Considered by many to be the best-eating freshwater fish in North America, the walleye is a white, flaky fish that is best eaten however it is served! While walleye can be prepared in many different ways, it's generally best to keep it simple so that you can showcase the mild taste and tenderness! This walleye finger recipe is basically just making fish sticks, which just sounds more appealing to kids and those skeptical of eating fish. One way to keep your fish tasting great is to get them on ice while on the boat. Make sure your cooler has a bag of ice in it before you head out. You could also bleed out your fish by cutting the gills and allowing the blood to drain.
For this recipe, the best part of the fish to use is the loin portion. Generally, you could classify your filet into 3 pieces: the tail, belly, and loin. The loin is the thick portion of the filet located above the lateral line. When making “fingers,” it’s best to cut the loins into thick 3–5-inch strips. This is easier to do when you’ve had a great day on the water and have plenty of fish to work with. I typically portion-separate my fish before freezing them if I can. I will freeze the tails and bellies together (they cook similarly) and keep the loins separate. If you don’t have a lot of fish to work with, no worries: just cut your filets into strips the best you can, and make sure you don’t cook the thinner smaller cuts as long as you would cook the thicker loin portions.
Other species that can be used with this recipe are Sauger, Saugeye, or any other flaky fish. You could also use a beer batter, which is more typical of walleye fingers in the upper Midwest.
Ingredients
- 4-6 walleye filets
- 1 cup buttermilk
- Fish breading of choice (Louisiana Fish Fry, Andy’s, Zatarain’s, etc.)
- Olive oil for cooking
Tartar Sauce:
- ½ cup mayo
- 2 tbsp. sweet relish
- ½ tsp. apple cider vinegar
- ½ tsp. lemon juice
- ¼ tsp. Frank’s hot sauce (to taste)
- ¼ tsp. cracked black pepper (to taste)
Start by taking your walleye filets and cutting them into strips. Place your walleye strips into a bowl and add your cup of buttermilk. Allow these to soak for 10-15 minutes before draining and dredging in your fish breading. Soaking can be done while you make your tartar sauce and wait for your oil to heat up slowly.
Add your cooking oil of choice to your skillet or fryer. We prefer olive oil, which is not to be confused with extra virgin olive oil. Regular olive oil has a much higher smoke point than other olive oils.
Preheat your skillet (or fryer) to medium-high heat. If you don’t already have an infrared thermometer, it’s definitely worth the investment. It doesn’t require cleaning, and they are very accurate and easy to use. If you have just a regular ole’ oil thermometer, it will most certainly work too but just make sure it is sitting up in the oil and not resting on the skillet or fryer, so you get an accurate reading of the oil. You want to make sure your oil is set to 375 degrees.
When your oil is at 375 degrees, slowly add a few pieces of your fish so that you do not dramatically lower the temperature of your oil. Low oil temperature may cause the oil to soak into the breading more than needed and cause stomach issues after eating. To compensate for this, you could wait until the oil temperature is closer to 400 degrees and then place your filets in it while ensuring you do not overcrowd the skillet or fryer. This will help maintain that ideal 375-degree temperature.
Fry until golden brown (flipping if necessary). If shallow frying, it doesn’t take more than 2 minutes per side. You’ll know when it's done--it just starts to try and break apart as you move it.
Once golden brown on both sides, remove from the oil and rest, either on a paper towel or on a rack so any excess oil can drain.
At this point, it's ready to eat as soon as you can put it in your mouth without burning it. It is best to be patient and give it a few minutes to cool off. It is great served with fries and slaw. Accompaniments could be lemon juice, hot sauce of choice, the above-mentioned tartar sauce, or even cocktail sauce, ketchup, or mustard, depending on the area of the country you are from.
--Wild Game Cook
