Winter Walleye Chowder - HuntFishMB Recipes
It’s cold outside. The heat is going in the ice shack but you’ve got a slight hint of an inner chill that you can’t quite shake.
There’s only one thing that can remedy this frigid feeling and it needs to be attacked from the inside with a hot, savoury and stick-to-the-guts bowl of the thickest walleye chowder you’ve ever made.
Now, thankfully you’re already fishing and have a few nice walleyes on the ice. Any fish will do honestly. I have made this chowder with everything from whitefish, burbot, pike, perch and even ciscoes one time, each version has been just as good as the last.
The most important part of this chowder dish is that you make it your own. Choose to add flavours you enjoy. I like crispy bacon, you can leave yours a little more loose. Add more cornmeal and let it get really thick. You can’t really mess this one up as long as everything goes in the pot in stages as outlined in the video.
What you need:
- 1 large russet potato, cubed
- 1 Cup of fresh or frozen sweet corn
- 1/4 Cup of cornmeal
- 1 Cup of chopped bacon
- ⅓ Cup celery, chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- ⅓ Cup carrot, chopped
- 3 bay leaves
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped or crushed
- 6-8 cups of vegetable, mushroom, fish or chicken stock
- 2 Cups heavy cream
- Zest from 1 lemon
- Salt + Pepper
- 2 Cups fresh fish, chopped or cubed
- Lemon wedges
How to Make It:
- Start this off by taking your bacon and tossing it into a pan on medium-high heat. Render it down until it starts to get crispy.
- Once the bacon is crispy, add the chopped onion, celery and carrot. Add the bay leaves now too and stir everything around until the vegetables start to soften and smell pretty.
- Add the cubed potato and cook until they start to soften slightly.
- Pour the stock into the pot and bring it up to a boil.
- Now you’ll want to cook the potatoes until they are soft.
- Add the cream and lemon zest.
- Add the salt and pepper to taste.
- The fish won't take long to cook in the hot liquid, so add it to the pot and fold it into the chowder with your corn and cook until just cooked through.
- Add cornmeal to thicken and stir gently.
- When the chowder has thickened, it is ready to eat!
- You can top this off with more crispy bacon bits, cheese and a squeeze of lemon.
