Asian Carp: If You Can't Beat 'em, Eat 'em

abc ^ | 2/14/10 | ERIC HORNG

[Nachum]

At this week's National Grocers Association convention in Las Vegas, celebrity chef Philippe Parola was touting his new favorite fish.

'[It has] 70-percent more Omega-3 than in catfish and tilapia," an animated Parola told an assembled crowd at his booth. "No mercury because it's a filter fish."

[Question Liberal Authority]

Whoops. I made an error. I was comparing a cup of egg to an ounce of tilapia.

A 6 ounce tilapia filet would contain about 360 mg Omega 3.

A farmed catfish filet contains about 732 mg Omega 3. (Wild is slightly more).

A carp filet contains about 1535 mg Omega 3.

1/2 of a salmon filet (about the same size portion as a full filet of the other fish), contains about 4,961 mg omega 3 (farmed) or 3,996 mg wild. Why farmed salmon gets such a knock by the press I have no idea.

A single egg contains about 61 mg omega 3, though there are varieties now which contain upwards of 300 mg, due to the diet of the chicken.

[burroak]

....tilapia, they still taste like cesspool scrapings.
_____________________________________________________________

You are on the money about the taste and why they taste that way.

If tilipia are farm raised, they are the secondary fish crop in the tanks or ponds. A primary food fish is initially raised and tilipia are then planted to clean up the fish excrement left behind.

Bon Apetit !

[mylife]

That’s interesting. Farm rasised actually has more omega 3.
WOW!

[cripplecreek]

I bought some tialpia a while back. Tried them and imediately gave them to the dogs who wouldn’t touch them.

[catfish1957]

I grilled some Tilapia and strongly seasoned them with Lemon Pepper and Dill, and it was pretty good. Very very bland fish that need mucho seasoning

[Question Liberal Authority]

Farm rasised actually has more omega 3. WOW!

It could be white noise in the data, but that's what I get from nutrition data dot com, which gets most of its info on that sort of stuff from the USDA.

Near as I can tell, there might be about a 20% to 25% difference in the amount of Omega-3 between farmed and wild fish. The major difference isn't in the way it was raised, but in the species of fish.

People wring their hands over farm raised salmon. Supposedly it contains less Omega-3. But the whole reason we have farm raised salmon is that people used to wring their hands over wild salmon. Supposedly, it contains more mercury.

Similarly, bottled water was supposed to be more environmentally friendly than tap water, and plastic bags were supposed to be more environmentally friendly than paper bags. Then, once everyone gets used to the change, the same environmentalists scream about the fix.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Next they’ll say we need to eat gar and buffalo fish down here in Dixie...."

Cajuns been eatin'em for a LONG time now.

[EEDUDE]

We should be harvesting this fish and making things like fish sticks for school lunch programs.

I don’t know about eating them, but maybe we can burn em like those compressed sawdust fireplace logs?

How many BTU’s in an average carp?

[MHGinTN]

Having eaten carp at my friend’s house as a kid (they were almost as poor as we were), I can tell you that it can be prepared to be quite tasty.

[EEDUDE]

I have heard that they are considered a delicacy in Europe.

But then again, these are the same people that made Elton John a knight. ;O)

[wardaddy]

Blacks too

not me....gar..yuck

[Wonder Warthog]

"...not me....gar..yuck"

That's because what you had wasn't cooked by Cajuns. They can make pretty much anything taste good.

Le Recipe:

Deboned gar meat free of gelatinous tissue. boiled potatoes. ( pound for pound of gar meat ) green onion tops, finely chopped. 1/2 cup/ 1lb. corn flour, not corn meal or white flour. Crawfish boil. Premixed type such as Zatarans. Add no other seasoning as the crawfish boil will supply the seasoning.Use the real spicy suggestions in the instructions.

Directions: wrap gar meat in cheese cloth and boil exactly as you would crabs or crawfish. This renders the gar meat snow white and taste like lump white crab meat. Combine the gar meat,shallots, and potatoes. Mash this mixture until you are able to form patties. Dip firm patties in egg/milk mixture then dredge in corn flour. Deep fry at 350 for approx. 8-10 minutes. Serve with cold beer !

[wardaddy]

I’m from Mississippi and we had a lake house in Tensas Parish for over half a century and have dined in south Louisiana annually for 50 plus years.

I have eaten some odd stuff round the world from monkey brain to mondongo...never thought of Cajun food as more exotic than boudin

but I will take yer word for it

[Wonder Warthog]

"I’m from Mississippi and we had a lake house in Tensas Parish for over half a century and have dined in south Louisiana annually for 50 plus years."

Heh...nobody from Louisiana would consider Tensas Parish to be south Louisiana. That is pretty much in the middle of redneck Louisiana. Totally different culturally, religiously, and culinarily. South Louisiana starts just below Alexandria, and Cajunry is further south than that. "Gar-ball" country centers on the Atchafalya swamp area (not surprisingly...lots of garfish there).

[wardaddy]

I know that St Joe ain’t South Louisiana but there are some French..not Cajun though...the earlier critters ....our deer lease was a Mrs D’Aubisson whose daddy had been a Secsh lawmaker back in the day but after scores of trips to Ville Platte, Houma, Opelousas, Lafayette, Bayou LaFourche, Breaux Bridge, Norco, Manchac, Cameron, lake Charles, Thibedoux (sic), and many years fishing Breton and Chandeleur not to mention maybe 120 days total in New Orleans and environs I ain’t xactly ignoramoose about south LA and yeppers I do know the difference tween Cajun and Creole

I just don’t know gar cept we used to shoot em with the SW M39 off the pier under the lights when the skeeters would gather...and they make weird egg jello on the pilings

[dragnet2]

Carp taste like sewage.

I just saw this woman at the store, that looked and smelled like a carp...No joke.

[21twelve]

“and they make weird egg jello...”

Oh man - my mouth is watering thinking back on mama’s recipe!

[dragnet2]

We should be harvesting this fish and making things like fish sticks for school lunch programs.

Carp sticks Thursdays!

[Wonder Warthog]

"...trips to Ville Platte, Houma, Opelousas, Lafayette, Bayou LaFourche, Breaux Bridge, Norco, Manchac, Cameron, lake Charles, Thibadoux (sic), and many years fishing Breton and Chandeleur"

Man, if you've been through all those places, how on earth did you miss out on gar balls. SURELY you have eaten alligator??

"....I ain’t xactly ignoramoose about south LA and yeppers I do know the difference tween Cajun and Creole."

Then you're a VERY rare soul, because probably 99% (or more) of Americans don't. Did you ever take the drive down La. 15 and La 1 to New Roads on your way south???

[chemicalman]

They can keep their carp. I'm still catching enough trout, catfish, bass, sac-a-lait, redfish, etc. to not have to keep a carp.

I may keep one if I need bait for crab or crawfish traps.