Alright, we have all herd the joke about filleting the carp on a board and then throwing the carp away and cooking and eating the board. It seems that the aversion to carp, chubs, and other so called “trash fish” is only an American idiosyncrasy. Millions of people eat carp and chubs and other less desirable fish in Europe and Asia. These fish in Europe and Asia are not trash fish but are considered delicacies.

So why do Americans shy away from eating these fish? Who knows, probably because someone once said that the carp they ate tasted like mud or worse yet, tasted like trash. Maybe that persons review was spread around and became gospel. Or, maybe it is because these fish are not brightly colored and sleek looking and people consider them to be inferior. Whatever the reason, many people are missing out on a truly delicious tasting fish, especially if it is cooked properly.

The other day, I decided to fish Scofield Reservoir. Scofield has always been a Utah powerhouse when it came to fat, football sized rainbows. But the reservoir has also been plagued with a Utah Chub problem. People prefer to catch trout instead of chubs. I happen to agree with them. Trout are a lot more fun to catch and make a tasty meal. It is common practice when people catch chubs to kill the fish and leave them to rot or they freeze them to be used for bait during ice fishing season. I decided that on this trip, I would keep the chubs I caught and try different recipes to see if they were truly inedible or if their bad reputation was based on years of misinformation.

I caught 10 nice size chubs and brought them home. I cleaned and scaled them just like I would a trout. I did not fillet them. I put 6 in the freezer to be used for later recipes and kept four out to be smoked. I took the four chubs and marinated them for 36 hours in a whitefish marinade that I have used over the years. I usually only marinate fish for 24 hours but I figured that the chubs may be stronger tasting then regular fish so I chose a longer marinating time.

After 36 hours, I took the fish out of the marinade and rinsed them off, patted them dry and placed them on a paper towel for half hour. After a half hour, the fish had a tacky feel that signaled they were ready for the smoker. I placed the fish in my Smoking Tex electric smoker, and then proceeded to place some hickory wood chips in the smoking box. I turned the smoker to 175 degrees and let the chubs smoke for 4.5 hours. When the time was up, I removed the chubs and let them cool for a few moments.

Now it was time for me to try these fish and see if they really were as awful tasting as their reputation made them out to be. Chubs have a lot of bones but the smoking process allowed me to remove the bones quite easily. After removing the bones, I was ready for my first taste. I counted from 10 backwards and forced myself to put that first bite in my mouth. Surprise! The chub tasted just like any other smoked fish. In fact, the meat was white and moist and the hint of hickory smoke and marinade made the chub taste just like whitefish or even trout. It was actually very good and I ended up eating the entire first fish by myself.

I am not claiming that chubs taste good because there is some kind of chub lobby that wants me to promote the chub. I am also not pretending that this fish tastes good to save face for taking them home and trying to eat them. These fish are very tasty when smoked this way. The flesh is very good plain, on a cracker or mixed with some mayonnaise and capers and served as a dip.

I hope that fishermen that read this article will give the Utah Chub a try. Instead of just using them for bait or leaving them to rot on the shoreline. I hope fishermen will start to take them home and try smoking or cooking them. Smoked whitefish is a delicacy and smoked chub tastes very similar to the whitefish! I will continue to try recipes on the other 6 chubs I have in the freezer and I will share them with you on this blog.

Utah Chubs are a problem fish. However, if fishermen started to focus on them as a food source we may be able to help control the Scofield chub problem by eating them.

Bon Appetite!

The following is the recipe for the Utah Chub marinade;

2 quarts water

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp black pepper

Dissolve all ingredients in water, place fish in marinade and marinate in the refrigerator for 48 hours. Smoke for 4.5 hours at 175 degrees. Use hickory, alder or apple wood for best results.