Asian Carp have become an accepted part of the Illinois River. The invasive species is estimated to make-up 70 percent of the river’s aquatic life. Now they’re also making their way to the table at one of Peoria’s more sophisticated restaurants. Edge Restaurant in Junction City specializes in farm to table local fresh products and Monday night the menu was Asian Carp. Peoria Public Radio’s Tanya Koonce attended the dinner event and filed this report:
Chef Dustin Allen is tossing what he calls a screaming hot pan full of white fish. He’s preparing the second of a four course meal for about 30 people.
Allen: “This is the little tenderloins we cut off the asian carp. We’re gonna saute’em and were going to pair it with that potato and leek vichyssoise, just a real thinned out soup that we’re gonna serve with some wild mushrooms that have been basted with a little European butter...So we’re just gonna let them cook down a little bit, get to what we want, and we’ll go again.”
It’s the first time he’s prepared Asian Carp. The fish arrived about 90 minutes before the dinner was to be prepared, and it still needed de-boning. Regardless, Allen says it’s not a problem.
Allen:“Everything we get is labor intensive so for us this is just another day. We buy whole fish so we are used to fileting. We buy whole pork, whole lamb, we do all our own fabrication programs. So for us this fits into what our mold already is, so now it's a matter of figuring out how to use it the best.”
That’s why the Flying Fish Festival Committee asked Chef Allen if he would prepare the demonstration meal. The committee is the working group of public and private professionals from Peoria, East Peoria and Pekin that came together to put on the July Festival. It aims to grow the area economy using the plentiful fish that have invaded the Illinois River.
Allen says that’s why he wanted to do the dinner. But when it came down to removing the bones and harvesting the edible fish, Allen says he wasn’t able to get a four ounce piece after trying every way he knows how to filet. So he says they quickly made curried carp patties, and they smoked some of the fish for the third course. With that, Allen says he now they understand why the bones are so difficult to remove:
Allen: “Once we were able to get the meet pulled away from the bone we were able to see the actual bone structure in its true form, and it is... it’s got points everywhere and its got little hooks on it. No wonder you can’t pull it out from anything.”
Chef Allen says beyond that, the fish tastes phenomenal. News reporter Rose-Ann Aragon is tasting the Smoked Asian Carp Crostini. So what did you think?
Aragon:“It tastes good together. You know, you can’t just have one piece. You have to have it all together in one, a nice bite. I think the combination of flavors works perfectly together. When you have a little too much of one it’s not as balanced. But definitely together it tastes really good.”
But then there’s the question of whether the fish might be more palatable by any other name? Some have called it re-branding. Chef Allen says that’s not for this dinner:
Allen: “We wanted to wrap our arms around it. It is what it is! It’s Asian Carp. Let’s figure out how to use it. It’s here. With the philosophy of our restaurant, we use all local products every day. So is this a fish we like. From a standpoint of environment, absolutely not. But it’s here. Let’s figure out a way to use it. That’s what tonight is about.”
Asian Carp as a protein food source shows potential. Outwitting the best ways of removing the bones and handling for freshness are areas that might still need refining. But in the way of using Asian Carp to create more jobs, the demonstration dinner might be a small scale perfect example.
John Hamann is Peoria County’s Rural Economic Development Director. He says a local off duty policeman caught the fish in the morning, sold them to Dixon's in East Peoria, and Dixon’s sold them to Edge Restaurant where the four course meal was prepared about 12 hours later. It cost fifty dollars per person, and that in turn employs Edge staff and maintains a vibrant restaurant in the community.
Hamann says there is also team of local men who’ve set up a very small processing plant in Springbay in Woodford County, and they sell their product to grocery stores in Chinatown.
Hamann:“And we are next trying to land a bigger processing plant and we have a local group of investors who are on top of this. They’ve talked to a lot of people with a lot of different ideas and they are in the process of actually locating a piece of property to locate a plant as we speak.”
Hamann says the investors could make announcement later this fall and begin construction next year.
As for whether Chef Dustin Allen will occasionally place Asian Carp on his menu that changes daily?
Allen: “We’re definitely looking forward to some feedback and see what people think. We truly design our menu on guests reaction. So we will see what the reaction is...”
Chef Allen says the group of people who ate the three course Asian Carp demonstration meal offer valuable perspectives because they all have different agendas for the fish.
But the common denominator of those at the Asian Carp dinner is likely the drive to see usefulness and economic growth come from the invasive species that’s choking off other aquatic life in the Illinois River.