Smoked Copi Fish Dip

Smoked bighead or silver carp is the main ingredient in this fantastic fish dip

By author of Timber 2 Table Wild Game Recipes Print Recipe
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We’ve talked a lot here at Timber2Table about invasive bighead and silver carp. Their meat is firm, white, and very mild in flavor.

Bone-in sections of Copi, or invasive carp, are fine for this recipe.

These qualities make them perfect for a variety of cooking methods, including frying, baking, broiling, grilling, and, for this recipe, smoking. 

The meat from bighead and silver carp is firm, mild, and delicious.

If you noticed the Copi in the recipe name and wondered what that was all about, it’s part of the new rebranding of silver and bighead carp to make them sound more palatable to the American consumer, who typically is turned off by the name carp. We import 6 billion pounds of seafood into this country each year. A large portion of that seafood is raised under questionable conditions in countries where safe food production isn’t a priority. What I’m saying is, if the average consumer could see where this seafood was raised and what it was fed, there is no way they would eat it or serve it to their families. Copi, or invasive carp, grow in clean water right here in the U.S. and are processed in USDA inspected facilities. To top it all off, the meat is better quality and has better flavor than most of the imported stuff. Hopefully the new name will help the American consumer embrace this low cost, high quality protein we have swimming right in our own rivers and lakes. 

This recipe makes a smooth, creamy fish dip. If you prefer your dip a little chunkier, just hold back a bit of the smoked fish and stir in at the end, or increase the amount of fish in the recipe. 

Serve the dip with crackers and add a slice of jalapeño, if desired.

We used our Bradley Smoker with a blend of their alder and cherry Bisquette pellets, but use whatever wood or wood combo you like.  

Realtree Store

Ingredients

 

1.5-2  pounds smoked Copi (bighead or silver carp), bone-in, skinned

2 tablespoons Myron Mixon Original BBQ Rub

1 tablespoon Myron Mixon Hickory Salt

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 shallot, finely diced

4 green onions, chopped, green and white sections

1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon lemon juice – more if needed

Pinch of smoked paprika

Freshly ground black pepper

Cooking Instructions

Start by smoking the fish. Season it on each side with both BBQ rub and hickory salt.

Season the fish well on all surfaces.

Smoke at 225 degrees for 2 to 2.5 hours, or until the fish is cooked through and flaky.

Smoke the fish until it is just cooked through and easily flakes apart.

Let cool. Then flake and pick out the bones. 

Flake the smoked fish and remove the bones.

Add the flaked fish and all remaining recipe ingredients to a food processor and pulse until the mixture is smooth. Add additional fish to make the dip chunkier if you prefer it that way. 

Add the fish and other ingredients to a food processor.

Serve with crackers or toast. You can even add a few slices of jalapeño peppers to kick up the flavor a bit, if desired.

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