The Mississippi River System has a big problem with invasive carp. Figuring out where they came from is a question for scientists to study and an opportunity for politicians to blame another thing on Asia. The local catfish may not have that kind of time to waste, so it’ll have to be up to the rest of us to save them. The answer is to eat our way through it, for real.
I suggest we give the carp the same treatment we’ve given catfish since Huckleberry plied the river, with a southern breading and then bake or fry. It’s hard to tell the difference in taste or texture. They can both have a muddy water flavor depending on where they’re caught and the solution is the same. (see 3 below) If there’s one downside, it may be the bones in carp are somewhat more tricky to manage, which isn’t really an issue for an experienced fry-cook. The carp can get pretty big, so the upside is larger fillets and lower cost per plate.
- Carp, gutted, descaled, deboned, skinned and filleted
- Cold Salt Water, 10% solution
- Buttermilk
- Corn Flour
- Eggs, yolks broken but not beaten
- Budweiser Beer
- Corn Bread Crumbs, or Panko, seasoned with salt and pepper
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Frying Oil (omit if baking)
Prepare a bath of fully dissolved salt water. Use 10% salt to water by weight. Fully submerge the fillets for 10 to 30 minutes depending on their thickness (see 4). Allow the excess salt water to drip off in the refrigerator or pat-dry if you’re in a hurry. Soak the fillets for 20 to 30 minutes in buttermilk.
Set up stations for corn flour, egg/beer wash and seasoned breadcrumbs. Wait to mix the egg/beer until you’re ready to start breading the fillets. You only need a small pour of beer, at most 20%, to get the silky smooth texture you need. (Keep the rest for yourself.)
After they go through each station in the usual way, fry the fillets in oil at 175C/350F until they’re golden, or bake with convection at 220C/425F for 12-15 minutes.
- Budweiser’s original home is St. Louis, so to use anything else seems like a miss. Also, the point of the beer is to get its fizziness into the breading for a lighter, fluffy texture and there’s no beer more fizzy than a Bud, or more available.
- More on beer—a pilsner might have some flavor that, in a moment of weakness, you might be tempted to get in there, but the breading doesn’t use enough to make a difference, so serve it on the side, or better yet, don’t serve it at all.
- The rest-time in buttermilk should clear up any muddy-fishy flavor leftover after the salt bath. If you’re sure the fish doesn’t need it then you can quickly coat with buttermilk before the flour or replace by misting with water.
- 10 minutes in the salt water is for something that’s as thick as a tilapia fillet, 30 minutes for something like king salmon.
- The invasive carp we’re talking about are from the Asian Carp family, called that because of where they came from. You can recognize them at market under the following names—Grass, Bighead, Black and Silver Carp.
- Politicians: Blaming Asia for this is like saying that the city of New York stole your bike while you were pickpocketing tourists in Midtown. It’s the cost of doing business, so quit bitching.
- The fish in the headline picture is a Grass Carp I bought at my favorite Asian market—Ironic.
- If anybody thinks they have a market for this, let me know and I’ll write the promos gratis. Let’s hope it’s for the intellectual/climate-loving folks who get a thrill from overpaying for a chance to save the environment at the same time.
Southern Catfish-Style Breaded Carp, St. Louis
