Our beaver pilot Rob returned to Toronto a couple of weeks ago. Before he left he made us some Walleye Civeche. For guys like me who don’t know fancy terms for food, it is simply walleye cooked in the acid of citrus fruit. There is no heat involved, only the juice. This is probably the healthiest way to eat walleye and makes a really nice appetiser. It was great having a pilot around who is also a chef.
Fancy restaurants serve civeche and charge dearly for it. They probably don’t use walleye but walleye does make it easy to make at camp. The real secret is to slice the walleye very thin. Rob gave me the recipe so I can share it with you. It certainly isn’t difficult and there is no danger of burning yourself. It also provides some time to enjoy a glass of wine or two while the fish “cooks”. I suspect that if you can’t get key lime, regular lime will work.
Civeche
4 fillets o’walleye (2 fish) (15-16 inchers work best)
1 bag key limes
1 grapefruit
1 orange
1 jalapeño
3 shallots
Method
1) Juice the key limes into a non-reactive bowl. Since they are small this will take a while. Do the same to the grapefruit and orange. I like to add some chunks of the latter two.
2) Slice the shallots and jalapeno (if you don’t like heat de-vein and seed first) add them to the bowl.
3) With fillet knife at an angle thinly slice walleye fillets into 1-2 inch chunks.
4) Now immerse the uncooked walleye in mixture. I like to add some cracked black pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours. Fish done when white all the way through.
5) If you want to save some for the next day make sure you drain from the liquid as it will continue to cook.
