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Chicago-based chef Phillip Foss of Lockwood Restaurant and Bar has emerged as champion of a highly unlikely, much maligned fish: the Asian carp.
Originally imported to the U.S. in the 1970s to clean catfish ponds, the fish eventually escaped and have been working their way up the Mississippi river, multiplying and crowding out native species by devouring large quantities of plankton and algae. Astounding jumpers, they're known to leap from the water, frequently breaking jaws and loosening teeth of fishermen who get in their way.
In an attempt to control the carp, state and federal agencies have tried everything from using rotenone to poison the fish, to electric barriers designed to keep them from invading the Great Lakes. So serious is the threat, that in February, the Obama administration announced a $78 million carp control plan.
Chef Foss, however, believes the answer is found on our dinner plates instead, and is using his fine dining pulpit to preach the message.
"We need to explore what impact can be made with this fish as a food source. It has to be explored," he says.
Fin-to-fin with salmon, halibut or scallops proved a hard-sell, so as a way to introduce carp to his customers, the chef began serving it as an amuse-bouche, and later as an appetizer. Along the way, he changed the name, and a more palate-pleasing "Lockwood's Shanghai Bass Ceviche" made an appearance on the menu. Foss also had to combat concerns the fish might contain high levels of mercury or PCBs commonly found in other large fish. He spent time educating diners that the Asian carp is a filter feeder, which means it has a clean, vegetative taste, not to be confused with the yellow carp, which is a less-tasty bottom-feeder.
Foss isn't alone in his evangelism. Louisiana's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries battles the same misconceptions, and has turned to chefs like Philippe Parola in an attempt to re-brand the fish as "silverfin".
But, as Foss and other chefs have discovered, the problem isn't resolved with a simple name change. The Asian carp's bone structure means there is no easy way to carve a steak-like fillet from the fish.
"That's the irony of it. It's a very difficult fish to work with. You loose 85-90 percent of the product," he says. "What started out as a very inexpensive product (roughly $1 a pound wholesale), skyrocketed to $15 a pound, and I started getting discouraged."
Instead of fine dining, Foss now thinks the solution will be found in scaling-up processing, and foresees a future of the fish being utilized as ground mincemeat in various fish products.
"We're always looking for sustainable fish. If Asian carp eventually take over the Great Lakes, then a market needs to be found," says Foss.
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5-27-2010 @2:25PM GARY HESS said... THIS COULD BE AN IMMENSE SOURCE FOR A NEW ECO-FRIENDLY FERTILIZER IF SOMEONE COULD FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO IT.
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5-27-2010 @2:58PM Ivar Nelson said... Cook them, grind them up, & can them as cat food. Cooking softens the bones. Also could be appropriate for many zoo animals raw & whole.
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5-27-2010 @3:16PM Feed up American said... Maybe they should start minding there own damn business and let nature take it's course. No they have to bring in an Ivy that has taken over the east coast and now a damn fish to clean tanks. Gee!!! it got away and multiplied, now who would have thought that would happen? DUH!!!!
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5-27-2010 @3:17PM Fed Up American said... Fed up OOPS
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5-27-2010 @3:41PM LPStarChaser said... Gefilte fish! This is a product that is currently rather pricey, but with the right kind of fish and a good enough marketing campaign, could have people gobbling it up. I would. Pass the Horseradish!
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5-27-2010 @3:49PM Kat said... What about gutting them, then cooking and breaking out the meat like canned tuna? The store brand stuff at Wal-Mart is all disintegrated and mushy. This couldn't be any worse. I do like the pet food and fertilizer ideas.
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5-29-2010 @9:52PM ycav4424 said... Carp heads, the new American steak.
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5-27-2010 @5:36PM Andy said... What's the difference in this fish and the one we call grass carp here in Mississippi?
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5-27-2010 @5:41PM Gary Mayer said... I live in Wisconsin, so naturally I would throw out bait for great tasting fish like Walleye and Lake Perch - NOT! I can't catch anything but Bullheads and Sheepheads. I am s-o-o-o bad at fishing that I quit.
Many Wisconsin restaurants don't serve Walleye or Lake Perch anymore because they are too expensive. I buy Tilapia, which is cheap and tasty. Haddock is okay; so is Orange Roughy, but also too pricey.
If I get desparate, I'll try Asian Carp, but they probably wouldn't bite for me even if we had them here.
I am such a bad fisherman I should really live someplace where they don't have fish in their lakes - like Minnesota.
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5-27-2010 @6:03PM CINDI said... any kind of fish from china or asia is a no, no, don't belive it, to much mercury in their fish and they are not gonna tell ya that..
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12-25-2010 @9:56AM RainyDayInterns said... @CINDI who wrote "...any kind of fish from china or asia is a no, no, don't belive it, to much mercury in their fish and they are not gonna tell ya that.."
Hey idiot...the fish is not IMPORTED from China directly for food. It originated there and is not breeding in the USA...moron.
5-27-2010 @7:02PM michael erdman said... If the carp takes over the great lakes? What an unmitigated disaster that would be. Foss sounds so nonchalant about it. Sport fishing in the great lakes is a mulitbillion dollar industry not to mention that it would be a terrible and irreplaceable loss to have our native fish destroyed. Kind of like having all of the songbirds replaced with starlings and grackels. Oh well, let's eat them. What an idiotic idea.
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5-27-2010 @7:06PM Down South said... Pressure cook them, preferably outside, and make patties out of them. Thats what we've done with carp for years down here in the south. As good as any Salmon patty you ever ate, or 'et as the case may be.
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5-27-2010 @7:55PM Ken said... Hey, they changed the name of the Slime head to "Orange Roughey" and people can't get enough of it. Why can't it work for crap? Uhm, sorry, CARP?
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5-28-2010 @3:30PM Guy from Shoggoth said... @Andy: The differences between the two species of carp (the Asian carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, & the Grass Carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella) are, aside from physical appearances, that the Asian Carp is a planktavore and swims through the water collumn feeding on green algae, other varieties of phytoplankton and other microorganisms while the Grass Carp is a herbivore feeding on submerged water plants; the former were introduced into aquaculture farms in hopes it would help control algal blooms which can cause fish die-offs in ponds as well as in experimental usage in helping clean water from wastewater treament plants while the later were and are still used to help control water plant growth in ponds and lakes. Usually, sterilized adults are introduced but on occasion a few reproductive individuals escape notice and are accidentally released. Also, breeding adults were sometimes freeded from their ponds by floodwaters from nearby rivers as well there are concerns now that there maybe unintentional introductions by fishermen who use the young as bait by mistake (either young carp fingerlings were in a pond being harvested for bait minnows or minnow traps in a carp infested river may capture some along with the desired fish).
I also believe we should cease calling them "Asian carp" and instead use their more commonly known name of "silver carp" to lessen confusion as many species of carp inhabit Asian and several now occur in American waters (both accidental and intentional releases).
On a side note the article's author made alludes that yellow carp (common carp, Cyprinus carpio) are not very tasty. Personally I find this incorrect. When cleaned correctly and cooked properly I find them superior to many other more commonly eaten species. Its all in how you prepare them. I'd love to try Silver Carp next. :)
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5-27-2010 @8:04PM Guy from Yuggoth said... @CINDI: Problem with your line of logic, is that these fish aren't grown in Asia but are roaming free and having a population explosion here in the states. The name "Asian Carp" merely states were they originated from. :)
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5-27-2010 @8:08PM Al Schrader said... This one is easy. You grind them up and feed it to lobsters. Then sell the lobsters for $2.00 each.
I'd buy it...Al-
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5-28-2010 @3:35PM Guy from Yuggoth said... @Tess: These are freshwater fish.
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8-08-2010 @3:35AM Scott said... 1. They are delicious. Texture like haddock, mahi or orange roughy. Not as flavorful as those but not as flat as talapia. There are no funky flavors or wierdness to deal with. That is all nonsense or peoples psychological bias against the name. They aren't even closely related to common carp.
2. There is a video series on boning them completly on youtube. It's important to get them on ice quickly and or get the gills and guts out quickly. Metalic flavors may be a product of less than fresh fish. That metalic smell is in the blood. I don't find them to be an overly bloody fish but getting the gils out quickly (as should be done with any fish) eliminates that issue.
3. because they are filter feeders they are lower in heavy metals than other safe to eat fish from the same water body.
They are quite lean and snow white flakey meat that seperates in large flakes. So far I have only ever made fish tacos with it. filets rubbed with fajita seasoning and spritzed with olive oil then grilled. When done they flake easily and the bones come out quickly. We crave it.
There is also a ton of meat on them. You get more meat in less time cleaning one of those than 5 pan sized walley. The big head have a huge heavy head that is mostly bone. I think if they weigh a headed and guted carcas before filleting they will find the ratio of meat retention much greater. That said cleaning large game has allot of waste also. A 100 lb deer often dresses out at less than 50% after bones and entrails are removed.
They can be pressure cooked and canned like salmon and it will soften the bones. This works realy well for common carp. big head bones are a bit bigger and be me more problematic.
To use as fertalizer just dig a hold and insert the carcas. Cover the hold and plant something near it. However there are fish emulsion fertalizers made from ground and fermented fish. I have one next to my peach and my cherry tree. No adverse effects.
common carp are QUITE GOOD if filets are brined and smoked.
The rest of the world sees common carp as a game fish and a food fish. The U.S. is the only one with a problem with them.
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