Walleye Cheeks???

I heard that walleye cheeks are really good? Does anyone have any insight on this and how do you fillet them out? Any good recipes?

They are GREAT! It’s all I ever save.

ps the bigger the eye the better!!

Nothing beats them. My daughter waits by the fryer for them, unfortunately there are never enough.

Back in the day when it was kill em all, let god sort em out. We ate a lot of walleye cheeks. It takes about a 22-23″ fish to have a decent sized piece of meat in my opinion. I don’t bother on the 16-18″ fish I keep now.

However, out on Erie when we kill everything, you can get some pretty nice sacks of cheeks. By far the best part of a walleye. Toss the in batter, deep fry for 1-2 mins, let oil drain off. One good thing about being the cook, you can sort off the good stuff before it goes to the masses.

Best part of the fish in my opinion. Taste like crab, very delicate. I saute them with fresh garlic and butter. Becareful not to over cook them or it will turn chewy.

I usually take a knife and cut around the cheek.

JJ, I’ll show you next week.

JJ, between the eye and gill plate, feel for a “softer” spot. Like BK said the bigger the fish, the bigger the cheek. put the tip of your filet knife into the top of the soft spot, and you can follow the shape of the cheek with the knife tip. Go around to the bottom of the cheek, and tehn just turn teh blade and gently lift the cheek off, leaving the skin on the fish.
Very good eating,just saute for a minute- they cook fast.
good luck, Gregg

I was cleaning fish in at Rausch a couple years and a couple old timers from Iowa, asked if they could have the cheeks from my fish. I had no idea what they were talking about but said absolutely. These boys had surgical precision and I couldn’t believe they were getting meat out of there. None of my fish were over 20 inches. I paid attention, but have never tried it myself. I would be interested to see how people use them/cook them also.

start under the eye, towards the top of the gill, then just peel of the cheek. We use Andy’s breading for all our fish. Cajun & red. Of course, don’t forget the beer

Very Yummy!! If planning a meal for a group might want to throw in some crayfish tails to make sure everyone is full!! Dip in drawn butter or cheese sauce!! Ridiculously good!!

BTW- when I told the FW the little nuggets mixed in with the cooked fillets were cheeks, she turned red and choked.

I told her I stopped cooking cheeks when making fish for her.

The cheeks only take a couple seconds to remove so anything over 15″ is well worth the time in my opinion. I don’t keep anything over 19″ but I always joke when I let go a sumo eye, “man those would be some nice cheeks”

I always clean the fish, so the cheeks go to the captain! YUM! Ask any other member of my family what they taste like they have NO clue, I never seem to have enough to share.

Gotta love a good set of cheeks!

Pure white meat that tastes like lobster or flathead.

It’s worth having someone show you how to cut them out.

They suck you won’t like them…but will you save them for me????

While up at Winnie a few years back there was a freshly cleaned 26.5 inch eye on the top of the “gut pile”.

Steaks!

Mr. Garver…here’s your cheeks. …and they don’t taste like flathead.

Cheeks are good. I have a hard time cutting them out without butchering them. Dad can cut them out on a fish in a couple seconds. I think it’s a matter of practice.

I hear you about cutting them out.

I prefer flathead shoulders.