How to clean and cook Asian Carp

Question

To start I am from the Midwest in the United States. In the recent years, many lakes and rivers have been taken over by an invasive species of fish called Asian Carp. These fish are disgusting/slimy fish, but have had several people tell me if you know how to clean and cook them properly they are actually a good eating fish.

I have done research and cannot find one good way to clean/cook them.

I know how to clean a wide variety of fish(Bluegill, Crappie, White Bass, Catfish..etc) But I would really like to know how to clean an Asian Carp and then how to cook it properly so that it is edible, AND tastes good. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Answer 1

Here's a decent video detailing just how to do it:

Basically filet it like any other fish. Remove the "dark meat" that is pungent and distasteful. Then remove the row of spines.

Taste tests described in the video show that virtually everyone preferred asian carp (poached or fried) over the other varieties such as tilapia.

Here's another one narrated with a great accent.

Answer 2

I heard a news story about a year ago about some group along the Mississippi River that was catching these carp and processing them for human consumption.

I wish I could give more details. They hired some top chefs to come up with recipes for the fish as they appear to be good to eat. The carp are not going away. They are only going to increase.

So, why not exploit them as a food source? This group said the hardest part of making the fish popular to eat is that people have never tried them. They held tasting sessions in various spots and gave away free meals with the fish.

Answer 3

There's an excellent Asian method. These directions are for a good size carp.

Buy 1 short 3/4 inch thick coco lumber, 3 inch wide board. Some places have it in a scrap box. Shape it like a flat hair brush. Drill 6 holes in it offset. Put 6 wood screws in holes, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch long. This is to scale them.

Run a sharp pointed knife along top of spine inside fish. Leave the head on. Gut the fish. Remove the blood and rinse in tepid water. If you have hogs, they will eat the guts. If you have chickens, they'll eat the scales.

Grill on coconut hull charcoal (which does not burn as hot as American charcoal), until it's light brown on the outside. Flip it over and grill the other side. You may add a wipe of soy sauce, fish sauce, lime or lemon to the cooked side at this time.

To make a complete dish, cook some sticky rice and put it in a ring mold, upside down on a plate on the table. (Remove the ring mold before eating.) Have some sauces made for everyone on the table. Soy sauce with 1/10th to 4 crushed volcano peppers in it is good. The volcano pepper is very spicy, so Americans may wish to go with 1/10th volcano pepper. The Phillipine style uses 3-4 crushed peppers. Have 2 liters of red horse beer ready & a pitcher with ice in it on the table. Tiger beer is good also.

The best way to eat it is with your fingers. A pinch of fish, a little sauce, a pinch of rice, a sip of cold beer.

Have friends over. Relax together and talk, or maybe play some cards. It doesn't get much better than this.