FESTIVE CRISPY FRIED CARP STEAKS
If you enjoy eating fish, why not try these Festive Crispy Fried Carp Steaks? They are a much-loved dish back home and are traditionally cooked for St Nicholas Day. Although carp do not have the best reputation because it has a lot of bones and, as a bottom feeder, can have a loamy taste. Here, you can find a few tricks that will help you get rid of this undesirable flavour in the carp, so you can enjoy it at its best.
WHY IS CARP COOKED ON SPECIAL OCCASIONS?
Similar recipes are popular even outside the Balkans. In post-communist countries, such as Poland, carp is cooked for Christmas, and, in Eastern parts of Germany, carp is served traditionally on New Year’s eve.
The tradition of serving carp on festive occasions dates back to the era of communism. During that period, the governments in Bulgaria and other Eastern block countries built many dams and started farming carp on a large scale. Like any fish, carp has a lot of benefits for human health. Also, it is an easy and inexpensive fish to farm. That resulted in carp becoming the most affordable large fish to buy for many. With time recipes for dishes with carp were developed and improved, making it enjoyable food for the people.
WHO WAS ST NICHOLAS AND WHY IS ST NICHOLAS DAY SO IMPORTANT IN THE BALKANS?
St Nicholas Day is one of the most popular holidays in the Balkans.
Nicholas was a real person, born in Patara which is nowadays Turkey. He comes from a very religious Greek Christian family and stories tell that he performed miracles since his birth. His parents gave him in service to their God from a very young age. All through his life, St Nicolas helped people in distress, fed the hungry, freed people from captivity and brought them home, saved people from drowning, healed many with illnesses, gave sight to blind people, power to walk to cripples, hearing to deaf and speech to dumb.
After his death, Nicholas was canonised and was declared a saint and a protector of all seamen and tradesmen, as well as a protector of the poor and the children. Today, in the Christian Orthodox religion, the date of his death, 6th December, is celebrated as St Nicholas Day and is an important holiday for the Balkan Christian Orthodox people.
HOW TO COOK FESTIVE CARP WITHOUT LOAMY FLAVOURS?
Carp can have that specific muddy smell or taste. To get rid of it, prepare the carp as fresh as possible and, for the best result, leave the fish to marinate overnight.
Some recommend marinating carp in chopped onions, others use garlic and milk as a marinade. Depending on how you plan to cook the carp, you can marinate the fish either whole or cut it into steaks.
How to marinate carp in onions?
Slice two large onions into thin rounds, and arrange half of the onion slices on the bottom of an airtight container. Rub salt and pepper over the whole or portioned fish, then place it on the bedding of onions. Cover with the rest of the onion and leave to marinate overnight. Before cooking, remove the onions and soak the fish in freshly squeezed lemon juice for 30 minutes.
How to marinate carp in garlic and milk?
Mince garlic cloves with a garlic press to a paste. Combine the garlic paste with sea salt and ground black pepper and mix well. Rub the fish with the garlic paste, then place the whole fish or the carp steaks in an air-tight container and pour the milk over the fish. Seal the container and leave the fish to marinate in the fridge overnight.
SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO COOK FESTIVE CARP.
Cooking carp on holidays has been done in Bulgaria for years and the variety of recipes for Festive Carp in Classic Bulgarian cuisine is significant. One of the most popular ways to prepare carp is roasted whole with a variety of stuffings.
Some traditional Bulgarian recipes for stuffing carp are made with tomato sauce, fragrant spices, walnuts and onions or with spiced rice, raisins, walnuts and cubed vegetables. Other popular stuffings are made with vegetables and pancetta.
When roasting a whole carp in the oven, make numerous cuts in the carp and push thin slices of lemon inside the cuts to infuse the fish with citrus flavours, or cover the whole fish with slices of lemons.
Cook the stuffed fish on a bed of beautifully spiced sauteed vegetables, rice or beans.
I do like roasted carp, but my favourite way to eat carp is crispy-fried. The fish is cut into steaks, tossed in batter and deep-fried to perfect crispiness. Although making carp steaks without batter is possible, the taste and texture are better when fried in batter.
Carp steaks can be grilled on the barbecue as well, which is another good option for preparing carp.
Positioned on a peninsular and surrounded by several seas, the Balkans have long traditions in fishing and fish trading. Therefore, st. Nicholas, the patron of fishermen and tradesmen, is the chosen protector of many Christian families in the region.
As expected, many in the region celebrate the holiday with a festive fish dish. In areas nearer to the sea, sea fish or seafood are traditionally cooked, but in most of Bulgaria, it is customary to prepare a festive carp.
HOW TO MAKE CRISPY FRIED CARP STEAKS?
📖 STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1: PREPARE the fish
If you are catching the fish yourself, gut it as soon as it is out of the water. Cook the fish as fresh as possible.
Portion the carp, by slicing the fish body crosswise through the bone, into about 2-2.5cm thick steaks. Discharge the head and the tail, or use them for making fish soup.
Step 2: Marinate the carp steaks
Choose one of the marinades suggested earlier. Marinate the steaks in an air-tight container in the fridge overnight.
Before you start cooking the fish, squeeze fresh lemon and marinate the steak in the lemon juice for 30 minutes. Make sure the fish absorb as much lemon juice as possible by squeezing lemon juice over every single piece of fish individually and cover the steak with slices of lemon to keep the flavours in.
Meanwhile, prepare the batter by mixing corn flour and breadcrumbs. Spread the batter on a large flat plate.
Step 4: Toss the carp steaks in the batter
Coat the carp steaks well in the batter and place them in the boiling hot oil. Fry the steaks to a golden colour. This normally takes 5-6 minutes for each side, but the exact time will depend on the thickness of the carp pieces.
Step 5: Fry the carp steaks
Heat cooking oil in a large heavy-based frying pan on high heat and fry the steaks to golden colour.
🍲 SERVE CRISPY FRIED CARP STEAKS
Carp steaks taste best hot, straight out of the pan, while they still have a lovely crunchy crust. If you leave them to cool, the steaks will lose some of their crispiness.
Fresh green salads and potato or bean salads go really well with fried carp. French fries, potato wedges and sauteed potatoes are a fantastic accompaniment to any fish dish. You can serve your carp steaks with any of these sides and the meal will be delicious. Do not forget to place a couple of fresh lemon wedges in everyone’s place to drizzle over the fish, and offer a bowl of lemon water to everyone to clean their hands after eating the fish. Carp has a few bones and you may need to use your fingers to remove some of them.
Bon Appétit! 👨🍳👨🍳👨🍳
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AUTHENTIC RECIPES FROM THE TRADITIONAL BALKAN CUISINES :
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Festive Crispy Fried Carp Steaks
Ingredients
- 2 kg carp sliced in steaks
- 2 large onions thinly sliced rounds
- sea salt and pepper to season
- 3/4 cup cornflower
- 3-4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
- 2 cups frying oil
- 5-6 large lemons
Instructions
Marinate the fish steaks overnight
- Cut the onions into round slices. Place half of the sliced onions on the bottom of an air-tight container. Rub the fish steaks with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then place them over the onion slices. Cover with the rest of the sliced onions. Seal the container. Leave the steaks to marinate overnight in the fridge.
- Juice 2-3 lemons and slice one lemon into thin slices. About 30 minutes before cooking the steaks, take them out of the fridge. Pour freshly squeezed lemon juice over every individual piece of fish. Cover each steak with a slice of lemon to keep the flavours inside and leave them out of the fridge to absorb the lemon flavours and get down to room temperature.
- Mix the breadcrumbs and the cornflour well in a bowl, then spread the batter on a large flat plate. Coat the carp steaks in the batter on all sides.
- Heat cooking oil in a large heavy-based frying pan on your hob. When the oil is hot, place the steaks in the pan and cook on each side for 5-6 minutes or until the steaks have a golden colour. The time for cooking the steaks will depend on their thickness. Place the cooked steaks on kitchen paper to drain the oil.
- Serve the crispy fried carp steaks straight out of the pan. Green salads, potato or bean salads are well-suited side to any fried fish, as well as, French fries or sauteed potatoes.
