Walleye Ceviche

[salt and pepper]

[Dawgluver]

That's beautiful, S&P. Do you freeze the walleye first? I grew up on the stuff and would never have had considered using it for ceviche!

[salt and pepper]

Dawgluver,
Yes , I vacuum pack the filets and freeze them for about 2 weeks.

Joe

[Timothy]

Originally Posted by salt and pepper

Dawgluver,
Yes , I vacuum pack the fillets and freeze them for about 2 weeks.

Joe

Hey Joe, as long as your freezer maintains Minus Four Degrees Fahrenheit or lower, 7 days at that temp or lower will rid it of any of the parasites common to walleye. Vacuum packing helps extend the life of the frozen fish, but does little to counter parasites and almost nothing in the case of bacteria already present.

Using very clean handling during the cleaning and storing of the fish will help a lot with any bacterial induction.

Above Minus Four Degrees Fahrenheit, or for lesser amounts of time, and you risk infecting yourself with one of many parasites that are common to that species. Tape Worm is the most common. It won't show up after infection for as much as years. You don't want this for sure.

The preparation of ceviche does nothing to rid it of parasites. It creates an environment that will deter *more* infestation of parasites, but does virtually nothing about those already in the meat.

The acid of the citrus in ceviche preparation will make the meat *appear* to be cooked, but the meat is just as raw as when used in sushi. The cooked appearance is deceiving. It's not cooked at all.

Please make sure you freeze the meat at Minus Four Degrees Fahrenheit or lower, for a minimum of 7 days. This will kill all known parasites, (with the exception of a few very uncommon types), that are already in the meat.

You do not want to become infested with Tape Worms. The treatment is nasty, (read about it, but luckily have never had it happen).

[Rob Babcock]

Most of the walleye you find will have been frozen in that manner unless you caught it yourself.

[Luca Lazzari]

I never prepared a ceviche, and I never heeard anything about walleyes before reading this post!
What kind of fishes are they? I mean, what freshwater fish can I use that would be similar to a walleye to prepare this ceviche recipe? A trout, a bass, a carp?

Thank you very much, comrades

[Timothy]

Originally Posted by Luca Lazzari

I never prepared a ceviche, and I never heeard anything about walleyes before reading this post!
What kind of fishes are they? I mean, what freshwater fish can I use that would be similar to a walleye to prepare this ceviche recipe? A trout, a bass, a carp?

Thank you very much, comrades

Frankly, if you do a "Google" on "Eating Freshwater Fish", you'll find literally thousands of professionals in the health-care field that will tell you to never eat any freshwater fish raw.

Freshwater fish are the fish that most commonly have parasites in them.

I know that freezing saltwater fish to below Minus Four Degrees Fahrenheit for the proper amount of time, will kill all but a few uncommon parasites, but I've not researched if freezing also does an acceptable elimination of parasites in freshwater fish.

My best advice to everyone is to NOT eat raw freshwater fish. In ceviche, the acid used does nothing to kill parasites. This is a common misconception among those who eat ceviche. Neither does it "Cook" the fish. The coloring produced from the acid bath is a chemical reaction, not cooking.

Being infested with Tape Worms is not fun. The treatment is disgusting and painful. That is the most common parasite found in freshwater fish.

Please, don't believe me. Look it up yourself with a Net Search or just call your local Doctor and ask. You'll find that what I've said is true.

[CWS4322]

I can't think of a freshwater fish that would be like walleye. Freshwater trout is not walleye. It is good, but it isn't walleye. I'd say cod is similar re: texture and taste. I have a bunch of walleye in the freezer that we caught at Lake-of-the-Woods. I don't have access to enough walleye to get adventurous with it. I will say this, however, that my parents have eaten walleye for almost 80 years, and my grandparents before them, and I grew up on walleye as did all my friends and extended family (the joke in northern MN is that there was a baby-food factory that sold pureed walleye in jars and we all grew up eating it--before we cut teeth. Thankfully, lutefisk as a baby-food never caught on!). Anyway, I don't know anyone who has ever gotten tapeworm from walleye. Bones caught in your throat maybe, but not tapeworm.

We always threw the perch back--they were wormy, and my grandmother refused to clean/cook/eat Northern Pike--she called them snakes.There were folks who had the cabin down the road from (a state I won't mention) and they'd eat the Northern...my poor brother had the misfortune to catch a Northern as his first fish. My grandmother told him to take it to the neighbours because "we don't eat snakes." Poor lad. I was luckier--the first fish I ever caught was a walleye.

[ChefJune]

Originally Posted by salt and pepper

You're making me sad and jealous! I LOVE walleye, and we cannot get it here. Whenever I'm in the Upper Midwest, I gorge myself on walleye.

[CWS4322]

@ChefJune--gorge is the word!. I ate so much fresh walleye while in MN--my dad said that the recommendation is to limit eating it to once a week (mercury levels). I said that I don't get it often enough to worry about mercury. And, I've got 7 meals of it in the freezer...wish I'd had room to bring back more. And the cheeks are the very best part!