Techniques for Frying Walleye and Other Fish

There are 3 ways to fry fish: pan frying, stir frying and deep frying. All these techniques provide the same end result - the fish cooks rapidly and the high temperature form a thin crust at the surface, sealing the delicious juices in.

Frying fish works best for fish with low to moderate oil content, such as perch, walleye, bass, sauger, northern pike, sunfish, and crappie.

PANFRYING
Walleye and other similar fish can be fried in large uncovered pans. I use approximately 1/2 inch of clean vegetable oil and heat it up on the highest setting. I typically test the temperature with a piece of fish - if the oil reacts to it then it's ready. Some people will use electric skillet (but I don't have one).

The fish should be no thicker than 1 1/2 inches (at the most!) and usually it is dredged in flour, cornmeal, cracker crumbs, cornflake crumbs or a seasoned coating mix.

If you use a heavy coating like cracker crumbs, you may want to dip your fish in beaten eggs to help the coating adhere to the fish so it will stay on while cooking.

STIR-FRYING
This is the traditional oriental method where you cut up your fish into small bite sized pieces and cook them in a wok or a large frying pan with a mixture of veggies in a sauce. Hot vegetable or peanut oil is usually flavored with seasonings such as garlic or fresh ginger before the fish and vegetables are added.

Because this method requires very high heat, you must constantly stir your mix so it won't burn. Also you need to use firm fish for stir-fries so it won't just come apart while you're stirring the mix.

DEEP-FRYING
fillets or whole small fish are first dredged in batter and then immersed in hot oil heated to 375 degrees (keep a candy thermometer hand to make sure you're always in that range).

First you have to make sure your fish is patted dry with a paper towel, then you dip it in batter - by the way, make sure you batter is nice and cold before you dip your fish into it, otherwise it sucks in way too much oil. Lower the fish into the oil slowly so the batter stays on. It will form a crispy shell, keeping the fish nice and moist inside.

Avoid deep frying too many pieces at once. The pieces will stick together, the oil temperature will drop and you will end up with soggy fish.

When you remove the pieces, you will need to put them on a wire rack mounted above a plate with a paper towel. Keep them in the oven or in a warm and serve drawer. If you put them directly on paper towels the fish won't be as crispy.