We all would prefer to spear fish the ocean. Some of us are deeply land locked. this gives us the option of NOT spearfishing at all till we can take a trip or seeking out the local cleear freshwater and practicing our skills on rough fish. Usually carp. Some states allow the taking of game fish but this is rare.
Carp can be allot of fun and . . . good to eat. They were imported as a game fish (common carp). I've had it served in resturants in europe and it was awesome. I have no idea what they did. We are the only country that has a problem with them. In Australia and the UK they are considered high game as I understand.
So having family in Eastern europe I decided to track down a serrious carp recipie. Not one about planking the fish and then eating the plank. They are bony but there is a pattern to the bones.
This is what I did. I cut the fillets off and skinned them. Cutting off as much of the dark meat as I could. Then brine the meat over night in a solution of water (2 cups) salt (I used garlic sea salt, but I've heard pickeling salt is better), brown sugar (be generous with both), then heavy dash of pepper, thyme and a bit of Old Bay. I made the brine like a hybrid between marinade and brine. Brines usualy add moisture to terestrial meats but can also push out gamey flavors on fish. After 24 hours in the bottom of the fridge I gave it a quick rinse and smoked it in my Webber kettle for 3 hours on the lowest temp I could manage. I made a slow smoking accessory I'll discuss if there is interest. I like the flavor of Oak smoke so I used that...
I draped he meat across skewers that were laid across a deep drip pan.
How was it? We at it all. It's not pure white meat like cod. Actually the fish will turn pink like smoked pork from the smoke ring. It's rich, mild, nearing buttery. Almost addictive with cream cheese and crackers. it's not as oily or "fishy" as bluefish, mackeral, or shad. I think our aversion is largely cultural. In Pa. they have a shad festival where the little, oily, bony fish is split, planked in front of an open fire with bacon and served. The mediteranean prizes a well cooked mackeral. And if you don't mind fish that dosen't taste like chicken bluefish is quite nice.
Oh when finished and cool enough to touch begin to bend and crumble the fillets and the bones pop right out. Carp could be good in fish tacos as well.
The Asian carp IS a snow white flaky meat that can compare to cod. There has been allot of money spent recently on finding solutions to the invasion problem. Turns out that harvesting big adults is really effective. To that extent a video was produced that explains their anatomy and how to clean them for boneless fillets. I tried it and it works. There is a pattern to the bones. You gott a think a bit differently about how you clean them but it turns out that cleaning one moderate sized one was similar to cleaning several small white bass with a similar or greater amount of meat left.
The link to the firs in a three part serries.
YouTube - Flying Fish, Great Dish (Part 1: Introduction & Removing Filets)
The physiology in terms of bone orientation is the same in common carp.
Carp can be allot of fun and . . . good to eat. They were imported as a game fish (common carp). I've had it served in resturants in europe and it was awesome. I have no idea what they did. We are the only country that has a problem with them. In Australia and the UK they are considered high game as I understand.
So having family in Eastern europe I decided to track down a serrious carp recipie. Not one about planking the fish and then eating the plank. They are bony but there is a pattern to the bones.
This is what I did. I cut the fillets off and skinned them. Cutting off as much of the dark meat as I could. Then brine the meat over night in a solution of water (2 cups) salt (I used garlic sea salt, but I've heard pickeling salt is better), brown sugar (be generous with both), then heavy dash of pepper, thyme and a bit of Old Bay. I made the brine like a hybrid between marinade and brine. Brines usualy add moisture to terestrial meats but can also push out gamey flavors on fish. After 24 hours in the bottom of the fridge I gave it a quick rinse and smoked it in my Webber kettle for 3 hours on the lowest temp I could manage. I made a slow smoking accessory I'll discuss if there is interest. I like the flavor of Oak smoke so I used that...
I draped he meat across skewers that were laid across a deep drip pan.
How was it? We at it all. It's not pure white meat like cod. Actually the fish will turn pink like smoked pork from the smoke ring. It's rich, mild, nearing buttery. Almost addictive with cream cheese and crackers. it's not as oily or "fishy" as bluefish, mackeral, or shad. I think our aversion is largely cultural. In Pa. they have a shad festival where the little, oily, bony fish is split, planked in front of an open fire with bacon and served. The mediteranean prizes a well cooked mackeral. And if you don't mind fish that dosen't taste like chicken bluefish is quite nice.
Oh when finished and cool enough to touch begin to bend and crumble the fillets and the bones pop right out. Carp could be good in fish tacos as well.
The Asian carp IS a snow white flaky meat that can compare to cod. There has been allot of money spent recently on finding solutions to the invasion problem. Turns out that harvesting big adults is really effective. To that extent a video was produced that explains their anatomy and how to clean them for boneless fillets. I tried it and it works. There is a pattern to the bones. You gott a think a bit differently about how you clean them but it turns out that cleaning one moderate sized one was similar to cleaning several small white bass with a similar or greater amount of meat left.
The link to the firs in a three part serries.
YouTube - Flying Fish, Great Dish (Part 1: Introduction & Removing Filets)
The physiology in terms of bone orientation is the same in common carp.
