Walleye and Perch Tempura
 | Author:
Eileen Clarke - Rifles and Recipes
Author: Rifles and Recipes |
Perch & Walleye Tempura
Serves 6-8
Are you ice fishing this winter? Here’s a simple, delicious way to use the perch, ling cod and walleye. For those who have a problem with gluten, almond flour is a great substitute. In fact, almond flour makes for a crisper, lighter finish. I discovered that in a fancy Las Vegas restaurant years ago. It was owned by Mario Batali and, at the time, I could not eat gluten. A quick conference with our waiter led to several specially cooked hors d’oeuvres coming to the table. But without my input. One was fried calamari. I’m not a big squid eater, I don’t even want to see them on someone else’s plate, but the chef had gone to extra lengths on a very busy night; it would be extremely rude not to at least nibble the edges. I ended up eating one whole calamari and enjoying it immensely, though I had kept my eyes shut as it approached my mouth. The secret was almond flour. It neutralized a lot of the squishy fishy foot element I don’t like.
I’m quite fond of delicate, white-flesh fish like perch and walleye, and we generally serve this tempura French fries, either frozen or freshly cut, cooking them in the fryer after the fish is all done. PS: There’s no reason this can’t be a sumptuous summer dish as well.
Ingredients
2 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1 cup cold water
¾ cup salsa
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 pounds perch, or other white-fleshed non-oily fish, cleaned and fileted
6 potatoes, scrubbed or peeled, cut into French fries or use frozen fries
1. In a blender or food processor, combine the egg yolks, whole egg, water and salsa. Puree 5 seconds. Pour that into a large mixing bowl and add the cumin and pepper. With a fork, gradually stir in the flour, but do not over-stir—there should even be a little flour floating on top—which makes a light batter.
2. Cut the perch into bite-sized pieces, no larger than ½” by 1½” long and wide. Pat dry with a paper towel.
3. Using a deep-fat fryer or skillet with enough oil to cover the fish completely, heat the oil to 375F. (Most 1-temperature fryers cook at that temperature.)
4. Dip the fish into the batter, lower the pieces gently into the fryer; fry about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the pieces and place on paper toweling to drain.
5. Optional: When all the fish is done, (or alternately cook fish and potatoes in serving-sized batches if someone can’t wait) add the potatoes in batches, and cook each batch about 5 minutes or until golden brown and floating on top. Serve the fries with ketchup. The tempura perch needs no sauce.
From Eileen’s Freshwater Fish Cookbook, now out of print, but if you’re interested, Eileen finds them in used bookstores and keeps a few copies on hand. https://www.riflesandrecipes.com/406-521-0273.
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