Seen a man down at the river today, he had a stringer full of carp. I was always told that fish that come from warm water are “wormy” and never really thought much about it after that. What’s the deal with eating carp and warm water fish and ‘worms’?
Thanks a lot,
Shane
Don’t know about worms but here in KY the Carp from warm water have a muddy taste. I mean they taste AWFUL, Make you want to kiss the south end of a north bound skunk just to get the bad taste out of your mouth :shock: . Cold water caught Carp can be real fine for the table , I like to smoke them myself.
Nouveau cuisine? Never tried it.
Joe
I have eaten them in China but naturally i think they had a team of people working on them to make them edible… it was in like fish mince things and they were quite nice. I wouldn’t just fillet one and toss it on the barby and expect to eat it though. I have read about how you can keep them in clean water for a while and then prepare them to eat… supposedly grilled they are ok I believe if treated right. Some central European residents of Australia are keen on them to eat. Personally a jam sandwich is more appealing.
Carp are a important food fish in other countries, but thank heaven not here!
I do have a more open mind about people fishing for them, than I used to.
Doug
Greetings from river country. I eat a lot of carp. “Carp fries” are still a common fund raiser around here. I’ve helped fry anywhere up to 400 pounds of fish many times.
I agree with Mark that “slough” carp - what we call fish from warm, shallow muddy water are beyond poor as table fare. I’ll bet you that fish from Ontario waters would be excellent. I have never seen a “worm” in a carp.
How you handle the fish from the time you catch it until you eat it is a big factor. I’ve been meaning to put together a pictorial on how we clean carp (gotta get that done ;)). If you’d like to try it - here’s a quick rundown.
First - stay with the females. They will be a thicker, deeper fish and the males tend to be long and skinny. If you fillet a fish and it is mostly all red - you probably have a male. Some guys eat them - I personally steer clear, they tend to be strong. A good fish to ‘steak’ is around 4 to not over 10 pounds.
Take a live fish - give it a quick whack on the head and cut the tail off. This will bleed the fish and make for better (whiter) meat. Takes just a couple minutes to bleed out.
‘Scaling’ the fish is a little tricky but easy to get onto with a little practice. Slide your knife forward between scales and skin. You are in reality cutting the scales off. With practice you can take pretty much the whole side off in one chunk. Then fillet the fish like any other.
Now, it gets a little tricky again. You are going to “score” the carp. Make vertical slices down though the meat and bone to the skin. You will feel the knife cutting through bone. Make sure you get clear to the skin. If you cut clear through a few times don’t worry about it. You just want the chunks to hang together. You want these cuts to be not more than a quarter inch apart. Less is more here. Cut the scored fillets into chunks about 4 inches wide. Now wash it well and soak it in saltwater, in the fridge, overnight. I usually change the water on it at least once.
A carp lends itself well to the ‘seasoned’ breadings but I often just use flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper. The act of ‘breading’ is another important factor. Divide each slice of the meat and make sure you get the breading down in there. Shake off the excess.
Deep fry at 375 and enjoy. If you did a good job of scoring the bones will fry up. Now, I’m not going to tell you it tastes like bluegill or walleye - but what does? Personally I like it fine. If you like to ‘dip’ - tarter sauce or Miracle Whip and horseradish mixed are good.
Carp can also be canned and and I like carp smoked as well as most any fish.
Try it - bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
When I lived in Germany I caught a bunch of small carp. I thought my German neighbors were going to fight over who got them. They really appreciated the fish.
I have eaten carp both smoked and canned. and found them tasty - but then I am a big fish eater.
In response to HideHunter’s comment about scoring the fillet and deep fat frying. I read about this technique quite some time ago. I tried it on some bony pickeral and it really does the trick.
Tim
I’ve eaten my share, either smoked or canned then used like you would canned tuna in casseroles and such. The thing about clean water versus dirty water affecting the taste is true, but it’s true for any species of fish, you just don’t notice it in fish like walleye and trout because you don’t find them in poor water like you will carp, catfish, bass and such adaptable critters. Warmwater species are also prone to parasites, but that is also a matter of water quality. I fish in a few ponds around here where the water is stagnant and snail larva and other parasites are indeed an issue when the water reaches a certain temperature. I don’t eat fish out of those ponds (don’t wade or tube in them either). I have no problem keeping and eating those same species out of good clean water, and find them quite tasty. A warning: clear water isn’t necessarily clean water.
There is a restraunt in South Omaha Nebraska, “Joe Tess’s” that sells cooks and serves Catfish and CARP to standing room only crowds every day. Like everything else, properly prepared it is darn good eats…
on the other hand, I did try to cook a carp I caught once… the cat wouldn’t even eat it.
ED 8)
I hear it taste a lot like chicken 
As I’ve heard before, in some places of the world carp are considered a delicacy. And, it’s also my understanding that carp are not native to North America but were also one of those species that were “introduced” into our waters in the 1800’s.
Those that I know of who have eaten them (out of good water), told me they skinned them and then removed a mud vein that runs the length of the body on each side of the fish just under the skin. Have also been told that cleaned and cut-up carp have found their way into some questionable resturants to be served up as a special “fish and chips” offering! Ah, yes, maybe some of us have dined on carp and did not know the difference!(LOL)
One time at a place we were vacationing when I was a boy, a fisherman came in off the lake and threw a good sized capr into a brush fire that someone had burning while cleaning off his lot right there on the beach. Later we boys went by the fire as it had almost burned out and we could smell this cooked fish … so we got a stick and pushed it out of the coals and split it open and walla! … steaming hot fish fillet … and it tasted pretty good!
Dale
I ate a lot of carp in my youth.
We would head to Fishing river (its real name) in a 1940 chevy with cane poles tied across the roof to the front and back bumper. A package of homade dough bait (Wheaties and beer or strawberry pop) hand carved bobbers, huge hooks…maybe 4/0 or bigger.
Catch a mess of carp and have a fish fry. Dad would build a fire under an old cast iron kettle (he called it the fish pot) fill it up with lard…when it got really hot, throw the carp in breaded with corn meal. It would sink in the hot lard…when it floated it was done.
That was the boniest, nastiest fish I’ve ever eaten…It will never pass my lips again.
The old method to ‘freshen’ carp from muddy waters (or duck) is to soak them overnight in a container of water with a handful of baking soda and a handful of salt. That is called sal-soda. Rinse and cook. Smoked carp can be a real treat.
they litter the shore here at lakes folks dont throw back and don’t seem to take home,
pastor ed. cat here wont eat anything but cat food . its the gfs food i don’t eat
if i cook her someting and it aint on my plate . i get yelled at. if its me makeing faces and its gross
and its on her plate plate wil fly.
Reminds me of a local recipe for “native hen” which is a wiry little ground bird here… that is to put it in a pot of water with a dash of wine and a rock, simmer away until the rock goes soft, then eat the rock and chuck the bird away.
Someone earlier said they bet the carp from Ontario would be good to eat. Well…unless they came out of Georgian Bay or Lake Superiour…I wouldn’t want to try it. There are enough nasty pollutants, chemicals and heavy metals in the little pan fish to make me think twice about eating any fish from around here, let along a big old bottom feeding boot like a carp. I love catching them on a fly rod, and for that, they get my respect, but the thought of eating one makes me shudder. I leave that to the 5 gl bucket brigade.
From the sounds of it I don’t want to try eating carp haha. I gotta agree with Mato about the carp in Ontario. Most of our water, especially the Thames aren’t that great untill you head away from London and surrounding area and get to the lakes. The Beer store always has a book on eating fish and how much of it from which waters are suggested eats. Never looked into it much, but it’s worth a shot now.
Thanks a lot for all the replies, very informative. If I do try it, now I know what to do with them:)
Shane
We eat carp all the time (from very clean water).
in casserole just like tuna - precook it first and then crumble and remove the bones.
Filets on the grill - deep slice the meat (almost like cube steak) squeeze somw lemon juice on it put a bit of butter, wrap in non stick foil and grill for 15 minutes.
no matter the recepie the muddy taste comes from the red parts of the meat. Cut them out when cleaning the fish and the rest taste mighty good.
Bones are other problem. But if you know how to deal with them (same as with pickerel) you good to go.
ummmm…
nope Never tried it and i really REALLY dont think i want to. :lol:
Have eaten them many times smoked. Bleed them out good and remove the dark blood line soak in mild salted water. Then put into your smoker. Let smoke until they are done. They will taste great. John