Asian Carp Challenge invites Illinoisans to fight for the environment with their appetites
Sandwiched in a plush brioche bun slathered with spicy mayo and topped with the familiar lettuce, tomato and onion, the flavorful burger patty is heavy on the oregano, garlic and black pepper, and pan-fried to a crispy golden brown on both sides. You’d hardly guess it was made with a fish that has threatened the Great Lakes ecosystem for the past few decades.
This weekend and next, Chicago restaurants will serve Asian carp burgers, tacos and more in hopes of educating people on just how tasty conservation can be. And the best part? They’re giving the food away for free.
This is just the beginning of the Asian Carp Challenge, a collaborative effort among restaurants, conservationists, community organizations and politicians to push the consumption of Asian carp, an invasive species that pushes out native wildlife in the state’s waterways.
“We are the last line of defense here in Illinois to stop them from getting to the Great Lakes,” said Josina Morita, commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District who is leading the push along with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The goal is get 1,000 people to try Asian carp for the first time.
Dirk’s Fish and Gourmet Shop in Lincoln Park, Open Books in Pilsen and Unity Park in Logan Square are three locations where local officials will host the #AsianCarpChallenge Saturday. Each site is set up with COVID-19 safety precautions so people can walk up or drive-thru to grab their free meals. There’s another stop at Denegos in Evanston on Sunday, plus an event in Ashburn hosted by the Black Fire Brigade and another at Fiesta Mexicana Restaurant in Uptown on Nov. 24. More events are scheduled around the state in Springfield, Carterville, Peoria, Quincy and Carbondale as part of the challenge.
With a focus on the local market in Illinois, the Asian Carp Challenge hopes to build demand among consumers and break stigma around the much-maligned fish, which can grow up to 100 pounds and wreak havoc on local ecosystems and fishing industries. It has developed a bad reputation of being gross with an ugly appearance, Morita said, on top of being an invasive species.
But what the uninitiated don’t know is that the fish actually tastes quite mild and easily takes on the flavors of whatever is seasoning it, which opens the door to creative flavor combinations. The fish is attractive as a food source for other factors: It has a high concentration of protein, Omega-3s and iron, according to a study by Southern Illinois University’s Center for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences. Plus, it’s sustainable, considering it is abundant and locally sourced.
“We have an audience that is looking to eat more sustainably and healthy and reduce their carbon footprint and it’s a good thing to protect the Great Lakes, but it’s also a tasty fish,” Morita said. “It’s not just a pity fish. I really believe that if people try it for the first time, they’ll like it.”
The success of this project will help buy more time for other infrastructure-related projects, such as construction of a channel at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, a multimillion dollar, international project featuring underwater speakers, electric barriers and a bubble curtain, Morita said. It’s still in the first phase — pre-construction and design — with an expected completion date in the next eight to 15 years. This is in addition to the electric barriers already in place near Romeoville, which the fish are already finding ways through. Experts say eating the fish will help slow its progression north.
For some restaurant owners, serving Asian carp isn’t anything new. In fact, Dirk’s Fish and Gourmet Shop has been doing it for more than a decade, even serving the fish at the Taste of Chicago in the form of a burger in 2009. At the time, guests wrinkled their noses when they found out they were in line for Asian carp, but were pulled back in when they learned it was free, said owner Dirk Fucik. It only takes one taste to subvert someone’s impression of the fish, he said.
Although he doesn’t serve Asian carp on weekdays, Fucik grills in the front of his fish market every Saturday, where he serves the fish as burgers, tacos, meatballs and croquettes. The fish are extremely bony, so he uses a minced version in his creations. He’ll be slinging more burgers this weekend to help promote the protein. He said while the conservation efforts are important, he believes it’s just helping to continue the education of his customers on their seafood options.
“All of my business is educational,” Fucik said, giving an example of his teaching a customer how to cook salmon. “That’s how it is with the carp. I’ve been doing this a really long time and I have a good customer base that believes in me ... they take your advice and listen to it and most of the time it works out.”
Chicago will soon have its own restaurant dedicated to Asian carp, slated to open in the next six months should construction stay on schedule, according to Chris Huang, one of the partners in the project. (He’s toying with the name Captain Morgan as a nod to the sea and to the street the restaurant will be on). His idea for an Asian carp-themed restaurant was independent of existing conservation efforts, but now he’s also on board with local attempts to curb the fish’s spread.
“I never knew that there was such a problem until recently, a couple years ago,” he said. “And then as we looked into it more, I said, ‘Wow, that is an invasive species and we’re going to do something about it.’”
Like Huang, many Chinese immigrants are already familiar with Asian carp, considered a delicacy in China and cooked in a variety of ways, from steamed with ginger and scallions to braised in Sichuan peppercorns. Patrons undeterred by the bones will be able to order Asian carp in those traditional Chinese preparations and the bone-averse can order tacos, burgers, salads and even Asian carp egg rolls.
“We just wanted to cook some good food for ourselves,” Huang said. “But then we talked to more people and they said this is a good idea and you could help us get rid of the fish, or at least some of it, and I said, wow, there’s a greater good to it rather than just eating healthy and eating good food.”
He hopes to open a training kitchen in the next month, located across the street from the restaurant, to help teach interested chefs Chinese cooking techniques for Asian carp. He encourages people to reach out to him directly for more information.
For those who have been involved in Asian carp reduction efforts for years, every little bit helps, whether it’s informing consumers or chefs.
“We’re making lemonade out of the lemons,” said Kevin Irons, manager for the aquatic nuisance species program at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, who said the goal is to get the fish down to 10% or 20% density rather than entirely eradicating it. “It’s an affordable Illinois product, it’s locally sourced, it’s green, it’s healthy and it actually does the environment good. (The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch) lists this as a good choice so all these boxes are being checked.”
Irons said he hopes this push will encourage more chefs to think about using the fish in their daily cooking. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign already serves the fish on a regular basis and has served tens of thousands of pounds of Asian carp in the form of fillets and fish cakes to students. Irons also said he hopes this campaign will pique the interest of food pantries and industrial kitchens that feed people in need of reliable sources of protein. The key is to change the perception of carp as a muddy bottom feeder and bring awareness to the merits of Asian carp, which eats plankton.
“Next summer, when we’re hopefully more back to normal, we would love to do an Asian carp week,” Morita said, adding that partnerships with community organizations, churches and other restaurants have grown since the inception of the project. “All of this synergy of things happening on different levels, I’m hoping to capture some momentum.”
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