Fried Northern with Homemade Coleslaw

This is a walleye house. Walleye is a mild fish, flaky, easy to clean, easy to cook, local and plentiful – why mess with perfection? However, when a fried fish craving hit and I pulled out a package of fish from the deep freeze, it was labeled as Northern. Northern? Oh yes, from the Canadian fishing trip early last summer. Ok, we’ll work with this.


Northern is actually really tasty – it’s a little meatier than walleye, thicker in texture, but both are pike, so pretty darn similar. Still, northern is eschewed by many fishermen as inedible for one reason: too many *&!^* bones.

My husband, the fish catcher/cleaner, is quite proficient with a knife. Whether it’s a moose carcass in the field or a Thanksgiving turkey at the table, he can cut it up and clean it up with expertise and grace – a very masculine grace, of course. As such, he does not tolerate bones in his fish. However, filleting out northern presented a special challenge: the Y bones, so difficult to cleanly remove from the fillet that many fishermen just don’t consider northern as worthy of the dinner plate.


There’s a trick to it, though. Before leaving for our Canadian fishing trip, we logged onto YouTube and learned how to remove the Y bones. Can you believe YouTube was only launched in 2005? What did we ever do before it? YouTube has probably cut a few points off the global productivity rate, but it can be helpful with clips like this:



"You don't want 'em floppin' around on you." Don't you love a thick Minnesota accent?

It still took a little practice to get the technique down pat, but I’m pleased to say that I didn’t hit one bone in our fried northern dinner. Good job, honey.

Fried Northern with Homemade Coleslaw
Fried fish is simply one of my favorite things and pairs perfectly with coleslaw. Adapted from Fine Cooking magazine, you can consider this recipe as another ode to cabbage.

1 lb northern pike fish fillets
Canola oil
2 eggs
¾ c cornmeal
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ large head green cabbage
1 carrot
¼ c. mayo
1 Tbls cider vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp celery seed

Shred cabbage and carrot in food processor. In a large bowl, mix shredded veggies with mayo, vinegar, sugar, and celery seed. Adjust seasoning to taste and set aside.

In a shallow dish, beat eggs. In separate shallow dish, mix cornmeal with salt and pepper. Heat canola oil in cast iron skillet for frying, adding enough oil to generously cover the bottom of the pan (about ¼”).

When oil is hot, dip fish fillets in egg, then roll in cornmeal mixture and carefully place in pan, frying until crispy and golden brown (you may need to do this in a couple batches). Remove from pan to paper towels. Serve fish hot with coleslaw on the side.