This mildly sweet lake fish is winter’s freshest delicacy. Chef Jon Eakes at Poppycock’s in Traverse City gets walleye delivered fresh from Cross Fisheries for specials, coats the fillets in salt-pepper-and-paprika seasoned rice flour, then pan fries them. “Rice flour gets the outside of the fish really crispy,” he says. Eakes also enrobes the fish in a nut crust du jour. Ginger-cashew crust is a favorite, or pine nut–pecan, but the trick is to have a blend that is both coarse and fine so that it adheres to the fish, and still has great crunch and character.
Get the recipe here!