Carp huntin’…Would you eat it? And if so then how would you cook it?

Fry it would be best way. The reason american think they are junk as americans are spoiled and do not appreciate food like this. Have eaten carp outside of US and it is delicious. Some carp here are grass eaters and the taste is not same.

Many americans discard and throw away what many other countries eat and also classify as delicacies and pay lot money to obtain….

wujoo,

filet them out. you can CAN them, like salmon, pickle it like herring, or smoke it like salmon.

Here in Omaha, there is a restaurant Joe Tess’s specialty is carp.

it kind of depends on where you catch it, what size it is, and how you cook it.

Generally over about 10lbs around here carp can be a little muddy tasting. (Thus the smoking or canning techniques)

Boning them is a pain in the ars but doable.

Filet out like a salmon, remove bones with needle nose, rub in olive oil, coarse light salt rub, smoke with fruit wood such as apple, cherry, peach wood.

# 2 lbs salt herring fillets
# 3/4 cup water
# 3/4 cup white vinegar
# 1 bay leaf
# 2 cloves garlic
# 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
# 1/4 teaspoon whole allspice
# 1/4 teaspoon dill seeds
# 1/3 cup granulated sugar
# 1 red onion
Directions

1
Soak the fillets in a bowl of cold water in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours.
2
Change water twice.
3
To make the pickling solution, combine water, vinegar, seasonings and sugar in a saucepan; bring to a boil.
4
Stir to dissolve sugar; let cool.
5
Rinse the fillets with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
6
Cut fish in 1-inch pieces removing bones.
7
Peel and slice onion.
8
Separate slices into rings.
9
Arrange herring and onion rings in alternate layers in sterilized jars.
10
Cover with pickling solution and cap.
11
Refrigerate at least 3 days before serving.
12
The herring will keep up to 3 weeks refrigerated.

CANNED CARP
Fresh carp (scaled and dressed)
1 c. canning or plain salt
1 gal. water

Wash fish thoroughly in fresh cold water, make sure stomach cavity is clean. Cut fish into chunks that will fit into quart canning jars.

In a non-metal container, dissolve the salt into the water to make a brine. Soak the fish in the brine 1 hour. Remove the fish and allow to drain for 10 minutes. Pack into clean sterile quart jars to within 1 inch of top, do not add any liquid. Seal jars with sterilized lids and rings. Process in pressure cooker for 100 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.

Fun to catch but consider them a catch and release fish.

I can’t answer on the best way to cook them, but my grandfather used to eat them all the time. He always said the secret was to hang them up right after you catch them, cut the tail off, and let them bleed out. After that, he would filet them out, and soak the filets in a mild salt solution over night in the fridge. I don’t know if this works, I never tried it. But my dear ol’ grandpa loved to fish for carp, so I’ll take his word for it.

I would give it a try. Over here, tilapia is considered junk fish, but I’ve given it a try. Like most fish, it’s best fresh.

Anyway, most things taste pretty good deep fried. Dipping fillets in your favorite deep fry batter and giving it a nice brown should do well.

A healthier option would be steam fillets wrapped in aluminum foil and baked and seasoned with your favorite flavors. You could use anything really, like marinara sauce, Cajun seasonings, pesto, butter and capers, or topped with lots of mayo. Chinese steamed fish is also excellent, just add soy sauce, peanut oil, ginger, onions, cilantro and black pepper.

Smoking fillets strips is a great way of making just about anything taste good. Over here they smoke big marlins because the meat isn’t the best table quality. But the smoked marlin is a delicacy that beer drinkers savor. Smoked fish over here is usually seasoned in some combination of soy sauce, sugar, ginger and black pepper.

Sorry I don’t have any recipes. This kind of cooking is all by taste for me. But it sounds like you have an ample supply of carp so you can do a lot of experimenting!

Almost forgot, deboning fish is pretty much the same for most fish. First, cut the fillets. Then run your knife under the belly bones and cut away. Feel the meat between the center bone and the fin at the top. There should be a row of small bones running the length of the fish. Use your knife to cut on both sides of the bones to remove.

Don’t kill if you aren’t going eat it or skin it. I have ate carp and this is how I have been told to do it scoring a carp. I have not done it personally will tell you it works and it is good. The basics are you slice 2/3 of the way through the fish every 1/4 in or so on a fillet when it is cooked it kind oflooks like an accordion and is great food. I grew up eating carp or buffalo about every friday night . Chances are I have ate more scored fish than any other cut of fish. try this and have a beer while frying it with andy’s fish seasoning