Cooking common: fish.

Some common and easy to catch kinds of fish often go unused because they are not regarded as food fish or they are somehow hard to handle. Following are some of the ways I have found for using fish that are common where I live. Perhaps other people in other places could share methods and recipes they have for enjoying fish.

Carp

Carp have a bad name in this country. In Asia and parts of Europe they are considered a delicacy. There are strains of carp developed for raising as a food in ponds, but wild carp can also be good eating. Carp may have gotten their bad name partly because they can live in very dirty water. Only those from clean water should be eaten. The water can be muddy if it is clean mud. Like most fish, carp tastes best when taken from cold water.

Keeping carp in cages in fresh running water for a while is supposed to clean the mud out of their systems and make them taste better. I had one in the steam behind my house for a week. I fed it dough balls made of cooked cornmeal and flour. As far as I could tell it didn't taste any different than carp directly out of muddy water.

The best way I found to avoid a muddy or strong taste was to eat the white meat only. The dark meat is biochemically different from the white meat and it seems to contain the bad flavors. The fish is fairly easy to clean and skin. The white meat can then be cut off as a fillet. This leaves a lot of waste for the animals or the garden, but with carp it doesn't matter. The whole fish might be wasted otherwise.

Anyone who has the facilities should try smoking carp. It is excellent. Another way to deal with carp is to use the following marinade. Don't apply it too heavily or the only flavor noticeable will be onion.

Dry marinade for carp

6 pounds carp, cleaned and skinned
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup onion, ground, grated or blenderized
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of mace (optional)

Mix the salt, onion, vinegar, pepper
and mace. Rub on all surfaces
of the carp. Let sit one hour. Wash
the marinade off of the fish and
rinse thoroughly. Cut the fillets from
the fish and fry or cook in any fish
recipe.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Stir-fried carp and celery

1/2 pound white meat of carp
1/2 pound celery stalks
1 egg white
1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons lard or oil
3 scallions cut in 2-inch lengths
2 slices ginger root, minced (optional)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1-1/2 teaspoons vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons chicken stock or water

Cut the carp meat into shreds or
narrow strips about two inches long.
Cut the celery into two-inch sections
and then cut lengthwise to make
matchstick-size strips. In a separate
dish mix the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar
and stock or water.

Mix the egg white and cornstarch
together with a fork or chopsticks to
make a runny paste. Mix with the
carp shreds. Heat the lard or oil in a
heavy frying pan or wok. Get it quite
hot but not smoking. Add the carp
mixture and stir-fry gently for about
one minute. Lift the carp out of the
pan and set aside. A slotted spatula or
spoon can be used. Handle it gently
so that it doesn't break apart.

Stir-fry the scallions and ginger
root for a few seconds and then add
the celery and stir-fry about one minute.
Add the soy sauce mixture and
cook for one minute. Return the carp
to the pan and gently mix and reheat.
Serve immediately with rice.

Bluegills or sunfish

These little fish, also known as
sunnies, gillies, or pumpkinseeds, are
easy to catch and have an excellent
flavor. The only real objection to them
is their small size. It takes longer to
prepare enough for a meal than it
would with a larger fish. Bluegills are
no bonier than most fish if the spiny
fins on the back and underside are
removed by cutting along the side of
each fin and pulling them out including
the bones that go into the meat.

That leaves only the backbone and
rib bones to be picked out when the
fish is eaten.

Bluegills are a good pan fish for
frying. I like them rolled in cornmeal
and fried in butter. Fillets from bluegills
are delicate little tidbits that can
be cooked in many different ways.
They can be steamed for about three
minutes or dropped in boiling water
for two minutes and then chilled and
eaten with a seafood cocktail sauce.
One recipe suggests cooking them
in boiling beer and eating them with
a sauce made by mixing catsup and
horseradish. The fillets can be stir
fried as for carp in the preceding
recipe. Cooked bluegill meat is good
in any recipe calling for cooked fish.

Catfish and bullheads

Some catfish get very large and are raised as a commercial food fish in parts of the South. The smaller catfish and bullheads that are found in rivers, lakes and pond in many places are what most people catch for themselves. They have good flavor and very few bones, but they are more difficult to handle than most fish. They don't have scales and must be skinned instead. They stay alive a long time out of water and they have poisonous horns or spines in their fins that cause painful stings if touched. There is a spine in the back fin that is nearest the head and one in each fin at the sides of the head. Either wear heavy gloves when handling catfish and bullheads or be careful not to touch the spines.

To kill a catfish or bullhead stab it in the head with a sharp knife. (I remember trying to beat catfish to death with a hammer when I was a child and I didn't enjoy the fish because of it.)

There are different ways to skin the fish. One that works for reasonably small fish is to hold the head in the palm of the hand with the fingers behind the side fins. Make a cut through the skin across the head where it joins the body and then cut a short way down the center of the back. This makes a "T" on the fish with two flaps of skin that can be picked up and pulled with pliers, peeling off the skin in several pieces. The back spine and fin can then be pulled out and the fish turned over. Cut down the stomach to remove the entrails and pull off any remaining skin. Cut off the head including the side spines and fins. Cut off the tail and the fish is ready to wash and cook.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Catfish and bullheads are thick through the body and take longer to cook for their size than most fish. They are good fried, broiled and stewed.

Broiled catfish

Catfish or bullheads, skinned and cleaned
Flour
Butter, melted
Mint, chopped
Salt and pepper
Parsley sprigs

Dust the fish lightly with flour.
Brush with melted butter and sprinkle
with mint. Put under the broiler
about two inches from the flame.
Broil about four minutes, brush with
butter and broil another four minutes
or until cooked through. Turn
if necessary. Add salt and pepper to
taste. Garnish with parsley and serve
immediately.

A COUNTRYSIDE reprint.