Texas Fishing Forum

Carp for food?

Posted By: HumanSeine

Carp for food? - 11/16/18 05:42 PM

Anyone try carp? I went to an Asian market and saw some carp steaks staring at me so I bought two. I cooked one in the microwave and the other just like I would a catfish. Well carp taste very good and yes there are bones. The fish were just like any white fish you may have had. I catfish most often but I see loads of carp coming to my chum so it is time to catch a few. It was a pleasant surprise after many years of hearing folks talk disgustingly about the carp. If hard times hit I imagine more people will discover the truth.
Posted By: CoC Angler

Re: Carp for food? - 11/16/18 06:36 PM

I have not eaten any myself, but i know a few people who have, and they said it was very tasty. I have had buffalo and they are amazing, and their bones can be amazingly painful lol. Carp are high in the good kind of oil that we need. Also they are a staple of Jewish and some middle eastern dietary cultures.
Posted By: FW Carper

Re: Carp for food? - 11/16/18 07:45 PM

My brother-in-law is Polish, and carp is a big deal at Christmas. He said he bought one from a Polish grocer and it was NOT good. If you catch them locally wild, you are likely to not have a great experience unless you feed them out for a few days.

That being said, I don't speak from personal experience.
Posted By: TXMulti-Species

Re: Carp for food? - 11/16/18 09:18 PM

I've never tried it and don't intend to (granted, I don't like the taste of any fish). If you are interested in catching and cooking some definitely only keep the smaller ones as they'll taste a lot better, won't be nearly as tough, and won't be potentially poisonous like the big ones from accumulating toxins. I've heard that some people keep them alive in a tub for a week or so to make them taste better.
Posted By: Ed-n-eddy

Re: Carp for food? - 11/16/18 10:24 PM

I've eaten carp from grapevine lake. The flavor was good. The bones were a turnoff for me.
Posted By: Dfitz

Re: Carp for food? - 11/16/18 10:26 PM

Curious about the recipe for microwaving Carp/fish?
Posted By: Marc-62

Re: Carp for food? - 11/16/18 10:38 PM

I've had Bar-B-Qued Carp & buffalo on the grill it's good. It's best to use the ribs but you need about 10 carp for a good cook out. It's also good cooked in the pressure cooker that way the bones are tender.
Posted By: HumanSeine

Re: Carp for food? - 11/17/18 05:36 AM

Ok I put rub some fish on my carp steak and microwaved it for five minutes. This rub is sold at Academy and I use it to do catfish in the microwave also. Microwave is very nice for a quick fish meal. Now with my catfish I have coated them in mayo and sprinkled them with old bay and they are great. I consume a large number of fish as I am retired and fishing is what I do.
Posted By: Laker One

Re: Carp for food? - 11/17/18 02:20 PM

I have never tried Carp but have heard that is good if prepared right! hmmm
Posted By: BigPoppa007

Re: Carp for food? - 11/17/18 07:13 PM

Posted By: Winger Ed.

Re: Carp for food? - 11/17/18 11:33 PM

In other countries, they raise them for food like we do pigs and chickens.

They have a 2nd set of small bones that are hard to deal with when trying to fillet one, and the waste is about 75% after trimming off anything that isn't white.
I save up enough of them, skinned and filleted with the small bones left in to be worthwhile running a pressure cooker..

Pressure cook them for 90 minutes. Then use recipes like you would for canned salmon. And carp tastes a lot like canned salmon.
The small bones turn soft like you have in canned sardines.

I like them, and you can refreeze whatever is left for another time.
I am careful about only eating ones less than about 10-12 pounds, and out of relatively clean water.

Their bad reputation is largely a myth.
Look at, and think about the difference in bait for them, and a catfish- that people don't have a problem with.
Which one is the picky eater, and which one comes running to the most foul smelling rotten mess you can find?
Posted By: banker-always fishing

Re: Carp for food? - 11/18/18 03:49 AM

I have never ate a Carp before but several friends of mine have and they love em! hmmm
Posted By: jackiekennedyfishingguide

Re: Carp for food? - 11/18/18 04:01 AM

I've eat one about 5# I caught out of Cedar Creek Lake and it was a very white meat after cooking. I pressured cooked it for 45 minutes with a tablespoon of OldBay and it was really good eating. I'd go an hour if I cooked another one to soften the bones up to an edible state.
I think most people who bad mouth carp are just spouting off what they have been told by others. The others didn't know what they was talking about either.
Posted By: ARReflections

Re: Carp for food? - 11/20/18 06:10 AM

Do not eat carp. They are horrible. Just give them to me and I will get rid of them for you.

I like them simply chunked and cooked in a fish stew like bouillabaisse, or cut cross sectionally and grilled. Bones are no problem since I eat around them instead of fillet. Keep your catfish, I'll take the carp.
Posted By: whiterockjesse

Re: Carp for food? - 11/20/18 11:49 PM

im not a big fish eater ,but i think carp has a better taste than catfish(cleaner taste than cats to me ) and crappie ( no flavor imo ) only because it meat is moist and has some flavor unlike like crappie when all you taste is the corn meal .... give me a jumbo jack with bacon , no cheese over some fish and im happy tho lol
Posted By: FW Carper

Re: Carp for food? - 11/21/18 03:15 PM

Originally Posted by whiterockjesse
im not a big fish eater ,but i think carp has a better taste than catfish(cleaner taste than cats to me ) and crappie ( no flavor imo ) only because it meat is moist and has some flavor unlike like crappie when all you taste is the corn meal .... give me a jumbo jack with bacon , no cheese over some fish and im happy tho lol


What?! You may be right about crappie, but it's my favorite of all fish. Could be I just like salty cornmeal. :P
Posted By: HumanSeine

Re: Carp for food? - 01/03/19 05:35 PM

Ok I just opened a jar of canned carp. This was cooked at above 10 pounds for 2.5 hours. I just added salt Nd vinegar when I canned it. I got a chunk out of my jar and could see the bones including back bone. I microwaved it and tried it. The bones just crumbled up and the fish was very good. Let’s just say if I am hungry and can catch a carp I will be eating. I plan to make some patty’s out of my canned carp like salmon. I will let you guys know but I suspect it will be great. Now I have not had another freshwater fish canned but the cap is very good.
Posted By: Flags

Re: Carp for food? - 01/03/19 06:29 PM

Carp is one of the most popular food fish in Europe. The key is the water it comes from. Catch one from clean cold water (like a gravel pit) and they are very good. Lots of bones but you can score them and the bones basically cook away. The problem with carp is that many of the places they live here are muddy and dirty waters and that makes a big difference. My cousin was married to a German guy and when I was growing up in CO we used to fish for catfish in the North Platte in NEB and we caught a lot of carp and this German would cook them for us. They were good.
Posted By: HumanSeine

Re: Carp for food? - 01/03/19 09:34 PM

I purchased the carp I canned but plan on putting a carp pole out when I fish from now own. Ok
Posted By: elbandito78

Re: Carp for food? - 02/19/19 08:31 PM

Has anyone tried them smoked? I heard they hold up to smoking pretty well. Thought about trying it and maybe making a smoked fish dip out of it.
Posted By: crapicat

Re: Carp for food? - 02/20/19 12:37 AM

Originally Posted by Winger Ed.

I save up enough of them, skinned and filleted with the small bones left in to be worthwhile running a pressure cooker..

Pressure cook them for 90 minutes. Then use recipes like you would for canned salmon. And carp tastes a lot like canned salmon.
The small bones turn soft like you have in canned sardines.

I like them, and you can refreeze whatever is left for another time.
I am careful about only eating ones less than about 10-12 pounds.


As a kid growing up in east Texas, our neighbor was a commercial fisherman. Any carp he netted, that were not sold, would be pressure cooked, similar to this method. Accordingly, we ate “salmon patties” regularily. Quite frankly, I prefer carp patties to salmon patties, every day of the week. I have been thinking about buying a pressure cooker and keeping the carp I catch, because I haven’t been able to find anyone that pressure cooks/cans them anymore. Personally, I love buffalo “rib cuts” almost as much as crappie.
Posted By: Ed-n-eddy

Re: Carp for food? - 02/20/19 04:32 AM

The buffalo have been going crazy on my channel catfish bait this winter... Sorta reminds me of catching a small tuna. Anyhow, I have a bunch of folks who eat all the buffalo I can catch.
I've seen a video or two about how to get the small bones out of carp. They're a fun fish to catch too.
Posted By: ShaneDav

Re: Carp for food? - 02/23/19 07:16 PM

I think the big problem with preparing carp is the same as the big problem with people that think you can't eat big pigs...there's nothing wrong with the meat or size of the animal, it's just impatient preparation. Carp are a lot like pigs in that they have a TON of blood that you have to leach out. Once someone showed me this it was mind-blowing. Now...it's not like a flaky white meat, it's damn near like ham. But pick your favorite salmon patty recipe and replace it with carp and enjoy!
Posted By: TXMulti-Species

Re: Carp for food? - 02/24/19 05:01 AM

Originally Posted by ShaneDav
I think the big problem with preparing carp is the same as the big problem with people that think you can't eat big pigs...there's nothing wrong with the meat or size of the animal


The big difference is that eating old/large fish can actually poison or even kill you. Carp have a bit over 4x the mercury content of catfish and buffalo have almost 6x, and the older/larger the fish, the worse it is. You're best sticking with fish under 10lbs for carp and 15lbs for buffalo, the meat will be more tender as well!
Posted By: 9094

Re: Carp for food? - 03/14/19 03:18 AM

I’ve had it a couple times. First time it was fresh caught cubed chilled and fried the same day and it was surprisingly good but had a slightly mushy texture. The second time it had been cleaned and frozen for about a week. It was terrible. Muddy dirty tasting and so mushy it fell apart when taken out of the fried.
I’ll pass in the future.
Posted By: ToasterWEyes

Re: Carp for food? - 03/14/19 07:13 AM

Anyone needs some buffalo, gar or carp PM me. It's not uncommon for my boat to bring in over 1000#s a night....
Posted By: butch sanders

Re: Carp for food? - 03/15/19 02:34 AM

Originally Posted by Dfitz
Curious about the recipe for microwaving Carp/fish?



me too
Posted By: butch sanders

Re: Carp for food? - 03/15/19 02:36 AM

Originally Posted by HumanSeine
Ok I put rub some fish on my carp steak and microwaved it for five minutes. This rub is sold at Academy and I use it to do catfish in the microwave also. Microwave is very nice for a quick fish meal. Now with my catfish I have coated them in mayo and sprinkled them with old bay and they are great. I consume a large number of fish as I am retired and fishing is what I do.


awesome
carp will be like any other fish
bon appetit
Posted By: butch sanders

Re: Carp for food? - 03/15/19 02:40 AM

Originally Posted by Winger Ed.
In other countries, they raise them for food like we do pigs and chickens.

They have a 2nd set of small bones that are hard to deal with when trying to fillet one, and the waste is about 75% after trimming off anything that isn't white.
I save up enough of them, skinned and filleted with the small bones left in to be worthwhile running a pressure cooker..

Pressure cook them for 90 minutes. Then use recipes like you would for canned salmon. And carp tastes a lot like canned salmon.
The small bones turn soft like you have in canned sardines.

I like them, and you can refreeze whatever is left for another time.
I am careful about only eating ones less than about 10-12 pounds, and out of relatively clean water.

Their bad reputation is largely a myth.
Look at, and think about the difference in bait for them, and a catfish- that people don't have a problem with.
Which one is the picky eater, and which one comes running to the most foul smelling rotten mess you can find?


well
this is a great thread
& this post is 1 of the most well written reviews
i have ever seen
bon appetit
Hombre
Posted By: butch sanders

Re: Carp for food? - 03/15/19 02:43 AM

fabulous topic
Posted By: jippedgenes

Re: Carp for food? - 03/16/19 01:25 PM

Grandpa would net carp out of the river. My grandma would gut, scale and cut off the head and fins. throw the carp in a pressure cooker. Get the meat out pick out the large bones and make patties with cornmeal, egg and milk with salt and pepper. The little bones were soft. Reminds me of canned salmon.

I remember these being very tasty. I have never tried it myself. Grandma was a great cook.
Posted By: LastCastPodcast

Re: Carp for food? - 03/18/19 06:17 PM

I've used a crockpot overnight and that disolves the bones as well. Added breadcrumbs and eggs, fried it into fish cakes. But I swear those fish are about 90% bones and guts.
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