Christmas Eve carp, smoked

2022-12-20

The carp is a freshwater fish that can be eaten at any time of the year, but it arouses special interest around Christmas Holidays.

Many people carry its scales in their purse or wallet all year round, believing it will bring them wealth.

A deliciously prepared carp is definitely the kind of Christmas Eve dishes. Depending on a given household’s family traditions, the Christmas Eve table receives a fried carp, roasted carp or carp in aspic.

Meanwhile, we have another suggestion that tastes equally exquisite and is easy to prepare. This year, we would like to suggest serving the carp straight from the smoker to the enthusiasts of this fish.

A smoked carp can be eaten either warm or cold. When preparing more of it, you can dedicate some to the Christmas Eve dinner and vacuum pack the rest, store it and serve it during the New Year’s Eve party, for example.

Ingredients:

1 carp, about 1.5 kg
2 L cold water
1 pack Browin Fish Marinade

Recipe for smoked carp

Preparation:

Pour cold water over the fish marinade pack content. Stir thoroughly.

Wash the carp thoroughly, remove the gills and scales (do not throw them all away, put one into your purse or wallet 😉). If you purchased it whole, gut it.

Cut it into any pieces you prefer. Put the fish into the brine prepared and leave it for about 10 hours in a refrigerator.

Afterwards, remove the fish from the brine and dry it thoroughly. To this end, you can use a food dryer, setting it parameters to 35-40⁰C , or use a household fan. Once the carp is dried well, put it into a smoker.

For smoking, use wood chips intended for fish.

Smoke the fish portioned in a temperature of 70°C for about 40 minutes.

If you intended to smoke a gutted carp whole, the thermal processing in a smoker will need to be longer – up to 1.5 hour.

The smoked carp can be eaten right away.

If the portion smoked turns out to be too large to eat it in one go, you can vacuum pack the rest of it after it cools down and keep it in a refrigerator.