Breaded fried carp

Ingredients

• 4 carp fillets with skin (about 800 g in total)
• 1 lemon
• 100 g flour
• 2 eggs
• 150 g breadcrumbs
• Clarified butter or rapeseed oil for frying
• Salt, pepper

Method

1. Pat the fillets dry and score them: skin side down, cut across them at 2 to 3 mm intervals down to just above the skin.
2. Cut the fillets into handy pieces, drizzle them with lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
3. Set out three plates: flour, beaten eggs and breadcrumbs.
4. Turn the pieces first in the flour, then in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs. Only press the coating on lightly.
5. Heat the fat about 2 to 3 cm deep in a pot or deep frying pan. It is hot enough when small bubbles rise around the handle of a wooden spoon.
6. Fry the pieces in batches for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side until golden brown.
7. Check one piece to make sure the flesh is no longer glassy inside, and let everything drain briefly on kitchen paper.

Tips

• Classic sides: potato salad or endive salad and lemon wedges.
• Carp from good ponds tastes mild. With wild carp, it helps to generously cut away the dark layer of fat under the skin.
• Do not fry too many pieces at once, otherwise the fat cools down and the coating goes soft.

Common carp: profile Common bream: profile