My buddy Layton and I kept and cleaned our first gar, was a nice 10-12lb longnose from the Elm Fork Trinity. We split the loins, mine is in the freezer and he already fried his. He told me it was so tough that he threw it away.

Is gar supposed to be that tough? By the texture of the meat when cleaning it shouldn't be. Is there a right and wrong way to prep it and cook it?

Thanks!

Eric

You Bet! PM sent

We eat gar all the time 30-60lbs are the best to eat. We blackstrap them like a deer. Cut out main tendon. Them trim off all red outer meat. Cut backtrack in to small steak cuts 1/4" think batter and fry up it's the bet!!

Boil it and then chop it in a food processor and use it as a crab meat substitute.

Anything for frying it besides soaking in marinade for a while before cooking? And will also try boiling it in salt water for lobster like meat, but want to prevent it from being tough when frying...

Eric

Gar balls!

Recipe

Finally cooked the gar, boiled to try the imitation lobster. Didn't turn out anything like lobster.....cooked just until done so wasn't overcooked. It had almost the exact same taste as boiled chicken breast. Water + Salt + Heat.....I'm a great cook so don't think I got it wrong. Would different gar species taste that different, one being like lobster, and one being like chicken?

Eric

Alligator gar has always fried up good for us. I handle them just like Garbow described up in his post. It's a more dense texture than other fish but very good. I fried up a spotted gar last year and it was tough and had a different texture than the alligator gar - won't be eating any more of those.

We recently started eating longnose gar, but we use Louisiana Cajun fish fry batter. I've learned that you have to cook it just enough, or else the meat gets rubbery if cooked too long.