Carp, are they edible ??

[Vision]

I understand the Laotian immagrants in the area eat them just fine, however after tasteing a dish or two. 

Is there any way to make them useful?? soaking?? Smoking?? Or is it really just better to cut them up as bait??

[firetoad]

I don't personally know how to do it, but I have eaten smoked carp and it wasn't half bad.  I know it isn't much help, but it is all I have.   

[kimrpeterson]

The lake where I live has an overpoplulation of carp, and they are very easy to catch.  I really don't want to eat then personally, but am planning on catching as many as I can and using them for dog/cat food.  Also, I learned in a composting class yesterday that they can be composted. 

[Vision]

I learned in a composting class yesterday that they can be composted. 

Ohhhh that's gotta smell really good!!! 

[spartan]

Yes, Carp are edible.  We cooked it when I was a boy scout and I blame the results more on our cooking skills (poor) as opposed to the fish.  It was edible but would have been better served with spices.  I do not remember it being particularly oily and it reminded me of a white fish like haddock when cooked.

I've heard some people complain that it can have a "muddy" taste if it comes from brackish water.  In those cases it was recommended you move them, while still alive, to clean water for a few days to clear out the crap.

Here is a link to some carp recipes.

http://people.whitman.edu/~hashimiy/carp.htm

[Vision]

Thanks Spartan, We are going bow fishing this weekend so I'll give one of your reciepes a try.

[swanson]

I ate carp straight out of the Tigris and I am still alive (barely) to tell about it!

Here's the Iraqi Carp BBQ....

[KyFarmer]

They are - and they're not bad.  I remember by Grandma cooking them when I was a kid.  Smoked the batsnot out of them if I remember correctly.  Bony (boney - heck I don't know) as all get out - so be careful eating them.

As an aside - goldfish are carp!  I was jug fishing a few years ago, and using goldfish as bait.  Actually CAUGHT a 12 inch goldfish out of a fresh water creek.  Crazy - freaked me out!  Didn't eat it though!

[Mr. Blank]

I grew up eating carp. They are actually tasty if you clean them right. Fillet them in coldsalt water, then lay the fillet out on a flat surface. On the bottom of the fillet there will be a streak of dark-ish meat that runs the length of the fish. Slice the the fillet of just above the dark stripe, then pitch the dark meat. Cook as you would a normal fish.
I guess that dark stripe is where they store the "stink oil" or something.

[Lawyerman]

Lady down the road from us on the farm used to pickle them. She would take the filets (no bones) and can them. It was GREAT on crackers etc....We used to skip school to go bowfishing for them in the shallow bays where they would go to spawn. Whatever we shot, and sometimes it was 50-60 of them, we would take to Ms. Mary. Week or two later she would show up with a bunch of jars of pickled Carp.

She is long gone now and this stupid kid didn't bother to learn how she did it. I've heard it said that when someone dies it's like a library burning.....wish I had known that when I was 16.

[smkymtn]

 Just make sure to check your state fish advisories. Carp like catfish are bottom feeders and were I live I can safely eat 1 catfish a month out of the river, nice huh, kids cannot have any!

[FreeSpirit]

Carp are excellent to eat if you prepare them properly. They contain lots of bones. If you pressure cook them, you will not need to worry about the bones and can partake without worry. They are not my first choice of fish, but very very edible.

[shangrily]

in carp that come from back So called back water there is something like a vain but is black to brown that runs along the center of the fish avoid cutting this or eating it as it is where the fish basically craps kinda like an intestinal tract.

[Cloak]

Here in Australia we have a problem with European Carp which muddy up the inland waterways and displace the indigenous species.

As a result they are considered a pest and rubbish species but are delightful when cleaned, skinned, steamed and served with a lemon pepper sauce.

Most anglers kill them and leave them on the river bank but I eat them.. yummo.

[Winchester32]

Is there any way to make them useful?? soaking?? Smoking?? Or is it really just better to cut them up as bait??

Ummm, I am assuming by smoking you mean, smoking the fish, rather than making the fish smoke??   The carp we have around here have sucker lips.  As a kid, someone told me that you could make a carp smoke a cigarette.  Well, not wanting to take anyones word for this, some friends and I tried it.  We didn't even have to light the cigarette ourselves.  We just stuck it in the mouth and lit it up,  and away the fish went.........taking long drags and smoke just a rolling out the gills.  It doesn't work as well with catfish....At the age of 16, we thought this was hysterical. 

As for eating them, we always considered them trash fish and just tossed them aside when we caught them.  But if I were hungry, I would give one a try. 

[Klapton]

Ummm, I am assuming by smoking you mean, smoking the fish, rather than making the fish smoke??   The carp we have around here have sucker lips.  As a kid, someone told me that you could make a carp smoke a cigarette.  Well, not wanting to take anyones word for this, some friends and I tried it.  We didn't even have to light the cigarette ourselves.  We just stuck it in the mouth and lit it up,  and away the fish went.........taking long drags and smoke just a rolling out the gills.  It doesn't work as well with catfish....At the age of 16, we thought this was hysterical. 

As for eating them, we always considered them trash fish and just tossed them aside when we caught them.  But if I were hungry, I would give one a try. 

This is pretty funny.  At least you didn't get the cat stoned.  I feel guilty about that now.

[stockpile]

Best recipe I know of for Carp ......

Get cha a big fish and season it well, lay it on a hickory board.
Preheat oven at 350, cook for 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and eat the board.       

[wbo3]

Best recipe I know of for Carp ......

Get cha a big fish and season it well, lay it on a hickory board.
Preheat oven at 350, cook for 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and eat the board.       

Damn, beat me to it.  But I was always told to use a pine board...

[homeshow]

fillet and take the skin off to.  don't just scrape the scales off.  mullet taste much better with the skin and all bones removed.  has to be the same way with carp.

[shangrily]

there about like sauerkraut, you just have to have a taste for them.

[ECACE]

I know this is an old topic, but at the link below you will find a PDF on how to fillet carp, including removing the mud line.
This link to not to my own file.  It is a link to an external source (Illinois DNR).

http://www.dnr.state.il.us/fish/carpprep.pdf

[TimSuggs]

Most oriental folks consider carp to be a delicacy, and it is THE fish in most oriental drawings/paintings/carvings too.

Tim.

[steeltownknight]

I fish From shore along lake Ontario . Just practise really, I would not eat anything unless I had to.  I remember a few weeks ago when I was just pulling up Carp and I mean PULLING !  The smallest Carp I caught was 15 pounds.  I was about to release it  when Another guy fishing   near me ran over . He said he would buy any that I caught He said it was an Asian delicacy.  It was kind of funny because I was going for Bass and was only getting Carp. He was catching nothing.  I made about $80.00
In a SHTF situation I would eat them to save my a$$. and that's about it.

[Nophix]

They aren't bad smoked. However, as has been said, they are an Asian delicacy. I don't know what they do when they cook them, but they are fantastic!

[donaldj]

Check with your version of your state's Department of Natural Resources. Carp are bottom feeders, and thus pick up more than their fair share of pollutants in the waterways. I know that here in MI, it is suggested that not more than a couple servings a month is safe due to pollution.

Post-SHTF, you gotta do what you gotta do, and your liver will just have to deal with it. Now, while you have resources and choices, it may be unwise to consume it in quantity in your area.

D

[madcap1one]

They make a great substitute meat for a meatloaf type of dish.

Just substitute it for the ground beef/turkey in your grandmas old recipe.

Again - I want to echo the bottom feeder pollution warning!

[m6996j23]

i live in se ky.  river carp are a very strong fish to catch.  lake carp dont have much strength.  the river carp  i ate tasted just like any other fish.  whole cornel corn and red worms are good baits.  the middle of summer seemed to be the best time of year for them.

[Cool Blue]

Most people around here think eating carp is strange but when I was younger an old neighbour used to pay us $5 a pound for carp.

He'd cook in in a beer stew.

[Docwatmo]

I love a good smoked Carp.  Yet another specialty of my grandfathers.  He made this homemade doughball (Oatmeal, strawberry jello and something else, i'll have to ask my mom if she remembers) carp bait that was like catnip to carp.  Then he'd smoke em up.  I grew up on the stuff and still love it.  One of the guys at work brings some in every so often and we snack on it all day.

[The Infidel]

Fill an old cooler with water. Carefully place an unbroken raw egg. It will sink. Add regular old table salt until the egg floats. Soak your carp in this saltwater solution for 24 hours. Remove the fish and rinse very well. Smoke the fish belly side down until done. This works well with any fish or red meat. Keep in mind the red meat will retain more salt than the fish. Use the hardwood of your choice and enjoy.