Carp is a fish that cannot be missing on the Christmas table – after all, many people look forward to it all year round. Unfortunately, sometimes it has a muddy taste and smell, which may result from inappropriate conditions of feeding, storage or transport. Fortunately, there are several effective methods, once used by our grandparents, that help to effectively deal with this problem.
How to remove mud odor from carp and what should you consider when choosing it? Learn some tips to prepare delicious fish – your family will surely be delighted.
Whether your fish will be tasty depends largely on what type of fish you put in your shopping cart. How to choose a good carp? First, pay attention to its appearance. His skin should be elastic, taut and slightly shiny, not wrinkled, dull and dry. The scales should adhere tightly and not fall off under pressure. In addition, it is worth taking a look at the eyes, which should be convex and shiny, and the gills – ideally, if they are bright red.
If you buy gutted or flaked carp, try to check the firmness of the meat. It should be springy and flexible – when pressed with a finger, it must return to its original shape. And of course, avoid one with stains and discoloration. As for the smell, fresh fish smells faintly of pond water. Do you smell an intense, muddy or irritating aroma? In that case, it’s better to refrain from purchasing it. And even if the carp smells as it should, it is better to choose smaller ones than larger ones.
If you want to be sure about the high quality of your fish, do not buy them in the supermarket, but from trusted breeders who take care of their proper feeding and breeding conditions, making sure that they stay in clean, not too crowded and well-oxygenated water. It is worth bearing in mind that carps available in hypermarkets often travel a long way to the store and are not always stored properly during transport, which directly affects their taste and aroma.
You wonder why do carp smell muddy? Contrary to appearances, this is not just because he is kept in a murky pond. The main factor in this state of affairs is excessive stress of the animal – if it lives in an overcrowded tank, and is inadequately fed or improperly transported and stored, its body releases cortisol, a stress hormone.
As a result, the concentration of lactic acid increases, which acidifies the meat. Of course, water contamination or poor oxygenation also affect its taste.
How to remove mud smell from carp? You have several different methods at your disposal – and each of them brings quite good results. First of all, it is worth using the reliable method with milk, just like my grandfather did. It involves placing the fish in cold milk for three to four hours and then drying it with a paper towel. An effective solution may also be sprinkling it with lemon juice – it is recommended to do this at least an hour before frying.
How else can you get rid of unpleasant odor? For example, by covering the carp with onion slices, which acts as a natural neutralizer. What’s more, some people immerse it in a water solution with salt and baking soda for several hours. But that’s not all – leaving the fish in the refrigerator for a few hours, preferably after soaking it in milk, buttermilk or brine, may also work well. Ultimately, you can remove the skin and some of the fat, because that’s where most of the unwanted compounds accumulate.
Sources: Smaker.pl, rybzsercanatury.pl
