Chicago Tribune goes big on big carp

Several pieces have appeared in the pages of the Chicago Tribune lately regarding the invasive Asian Carp which is threatening to overwhelm and spread causing havoc to waterways.

Frederick J. Frommer, the AP's carp hand, produced a piece dealing with a $400,000 spending bill which Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio slipped into an emergency spending bill for Iraq and hurricane relief. (condensed version here.)

After running several versions of Frommer's piece, the Trib put James Janega on the carp beat.

He wrote an illuminating two page feature on efforts to fish Asian carp and other aspects of the threat they pose, entitled "Carpe Diem", latin for "Seize the Day". In light of the fact they're trying to nab these suckers, shouldn't it have been "Carpe Carp"??

It mentions the situation with Jacobs and Shaeffer's Fisheries, and sheds some new light on the subject.

Across from Iowa on the Mississippi River, Mike Schafer of Schafer Fisheries in Thomson, Ill., says the future of his family's business lies with the carp. He's already bought a million-dollar freezer that shuffles 750 pounds of fish through a flash-freeze every nine minutes.

Schafer sold 2 million pounds of carp last year to Asian communities in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles. He ships another 3,000 pounds a week to restaurants and shops in Chicago's Chinatown.

"Right now, they're just snowballing," Schafer said. Like other owners of Midwestern fisheries, Schafer is looking for new markets to buy the carp. He has already offered a line of carp-based fertilizer to local farmers.

The horizons for his fish could widen further if he spends an additional $750,000 on a machine that can take 5,000 pounds of de-boned, ground-up carp an hour and form them into thousands of 4-oz. patties.

The Netherlands-built Koppens MultiFormer 900 is commonly used for red meat, but the Dutch have found it works for mulched fish, Schafer said. Almost anyone might eat the patties, proponents say--so long as they don't know they're carp.

A measure to supply the money through a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity was introduced by state Sen. Mike Jacobs (D-East Moline), who said it survived end-of-session budget wrangling Thursday and awaits signature by the governor. The state spent $100,000 last year to test the feasibility of controlling the carp through fishing.

"I laughed until I saw all these fish being processed. There's all these boatloads of Asian carp and they can't do anything with them," Jacobs said. "I don't think you can stop these fish, so I think we're going to have to maintain them."

I guess we can assume Sen. Jacobs didn't mean "maintain" the carp population, but rather to manage or at least hold the line against their spread or growth in number.

It also appears that Shaeffers is doing just bang up business with no end in sight for the expansion of their markets and increased profits. Yet they want the state taxpayer, through the efforts of Sen. Jacobs, to spring for some new processing equipment. Nice deal if you can get away with it, I guess. Beats doing business the old fashioned way.

In a previous post on this issue, I noted several very important but unanswered questions which would serve to make judging the worthiness of these various proposals and expenditures a lot easier.

I questioned whether there were any studies done, and if so, what were the results? Particularly, just how much of an effect, if any, would subsidizing a private company have on the carp problem? Would it have any effect at all?

Well, this article finally reveals that yes, there was a study done, and it cost us $100,000. Of course, I'm not sure where the results are, or if they're available to the public. The politicians aren't rushing to make them available, as far as I know.

In previous press coverage, Jacobs and the supporters of this measure seemed to be trying to tie the near million dollar taxpayer subsidy of Shaeffers' to the effort to eradicate the carp.

It seems that they've finally gotten off that line of defense, as evidenced by Jacobs essentially admitting that commercial fishing isn't going to do much to stop the advance of these menaces.

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And last but not least, someone at the Trib was apparently dubious of the claims that carp is finger-lickin' good and sent some writers out to an Asian restaurant in Chicago's Chinatown carrying a plastic sack containing 15 lbs of juicy Asian carp to a place which could turn it into a meal.

What happened? Savor the yummy details.....

Emperor's Choice doesn't normally serve Illinois River Asian carp on its menu. But when we showed up at the Chinatown restaurant toting more than 15 pounds of the stuff in a plastic bag last Friday, chef Thomas Lui was happy to show us how it would be served on a typical Chinese table. We did call ahead and ask, though.

Our meal came out in four courses as follows.

CARP SOUP

We started with a mild milky carp broth accented with napa cabbage and cubes of silky tofu, the most assertive flavors coming from slender strips of fresh ginger.

SUGGESTED WINE PAIRING: unoaked South African Chardonnay.

CLAY POT BRAISED CARP HEAD

Fatty and gelatinous chunks of braised fish noggin were infused with the fragrant black beans and fresh ginger, scallions, cilantro and garlic that could make anything--even jelloey fish head--taste delicious. Chef Lui tells us this is the favorite Chinese preparation for this fish because of the texture and richness of the cartilage. Plus, Eastern eaters find the steaks a pain in the neck with all of their tiny bones. The most sought after head bits come from the tender but meaty cheeks, with the eyes also being considered lucky bits, according to the man who sold us the carp, Trung Truong, owner of Five Continents grocery store in Archer Heights.

SUGGESTED WINE PAIRING: a fresh, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc would be excellent with this dish.

SWEET AND SOUR CARP STEAKS

Deep-fried anything in a sweet, gloppy sauce can be hard to resist, but this was our least favorite of the four. Although the carp flesh remained moist--if bland--the sweet and sour sauce was a one-note affair. Slices of sweet pepper, onion and sea cucumber didn't add much else to the dish. [If sea cucumber can't save it, it's beyond hope.]

SUGGESTED WINE PAIRING: a nice Riesling from the Pacific Northwest or Alsace regions would be delightful with it.

HUNAN-STYLE CARP STEAKS IN KUNG PAO SAUCE

This was similar to the sweet and sour preparation since the steaks were deep fried to perfection in a light batter. But here they were topped by chef Lui's famous sweet and savory kung pao sauce, redolent with fiery jalepeno slices and a shower of fresh cilantro. The ultra white moist tender flesh tasted of nothing, but with all of these other lovely flavors and textures going on, it was hardly missed. And every once in a while, as with all the dishes, a river of freshwater fish taste ran through it.

SUGGESTED WINE PAIRING: this sultry dish asks for a light-bodied Pinot Noir, as from the Carneros region of California.

Truong says that home cooks can sometimes really stink up the house with unskilled preparations of the dish. But if you can get someone like chef Lui to handle this fish--and you don't mind a lot of bones--we say it's edible.

There you have it! The writers conclude that carp is, indeed "edible". What more could you want?