Grilled carp with butter sauce

Grilled carp with butter and mustard sauce

If you’ve caught a day when you really want to prepare fish differently than usual, grilled carp with butter and mustard sauce is one of my favorite ways. I came across this recipe in an old cookbook of fish dishes and since then I’ve made it several times, especially when I find fresh carp. It’s not complicated, but it’s different from what is usually done with carp. The butter sauce is quick to prepare and completely changes the taste of the fish. It works best when you have guests at the table who appreciate simple yet flavorful dishes.

Quick Info

Total time: about 50-60 minutes
Preparation time: 20 minutes (including salting time)
Cooking time: 20-30 minutes
Servings: 4
Difficulty: easy to medium, no special technique required
Recipe type: main dish, suitable for lunch or dinner

Ingredients

4 slices of carp (ideally 2-3 cm thick)
50 g of fat butter
juice of one medium lemon
2 tablespoons of classic mustard
salt
pepper
dried dill (not fresh)

Preparation method

1. Wash the carp slices well under cold running water. Drain them as well as you can, using paper or let them drain for a few minutes.
2. Sprinkle salt on all the fish pieces on both sides. Leave them in the fridge on a plate for 20 minutes to absorb the salt slightly.
3. Heat the grill or a griddle. When it’s well heated, place the carp pieces. Don’t turn them often. Let them form a crust, then turn them to the other side. Depending on thickness, the fish slices cook in 15-20 minutes. Don’t dry the meat too much.
4. While the fish is on the grill, prepare the sauce. Place the butter in a small pot over very low heat or in a double boiler, just enough to partially melt it. Don’t let it boil or brown. Remove from heat and mix well with a wooden spoon until you get a smooth texture.
5. Gradually add the lemon juice, stirring continuously. When the butter starts to thicken (it doesn’t curdle, just binds slightly), add the 2 tablespoons of mustard and mix well until everything is homogeneous.
6. Finally, add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle the dried dill, crushed between your fingers.
7. Serve the fish while it’s warm, directly on a plate or on a platter. Pour the butter and mustard sauce over it, or let everyone add as much as they want. It goes very well with polenta.

Why I make this recipe often

For me, this recipe is a good solution when I want to prepare fish quickly, but not always in the same combination. The butter and mustard sauce doesn’t require complicated ingredients and pairs very well with the fattier meat of the carp. It never stays on the table, it’s never thrown away, so I don’t feel like I’m wasting anything.

Tips and variations

Tips

Don’t wash the fish after salting; just drain it if it has released water.
Use fat butter, not margarine or light butter. The taste is completely different.
If the grill is charcoal, watch the flame; the carp can take on a bitter taste if the skin burns.

Substitutions

You can use another fish with firmer meat, like catfish, if you don’t have carp.
For the sauce, sweeter mustard works too if you don’t like the classic one.

Variations

Dried dill has a specific taste, but if you don’t like it you can omit it. Don’t substitute it with parsley; it doesn’t give the same effect.
In the sauce, you can add, if you want, a bit of grated lemon zest for a more pronounced flavor, but the original doesn’t require that.

Serving ideas

The simplest is next to warm polenta. I don’t recommend potatoes or other side dishes, as the butter sauce pairs best with polenta.
You can also serve onion salad or pickles if you want something sour on the side.

Frequently asked questions

1. What type of mustard is suitable for the sauce?
For this recipe, I use classic mustard without additional flavors or whole grains. Dijon is spicier; you can try it, but the classic Romanian one is the most suitable in taste.

2. Can I prepare the fish in a pan instead of on the grill?
You can, but it doesn’t have the same flavor. On the grill or griddle, it forms a crust that matters for texture. In a pan, the carp can get too soft.

3. Can I use fresh dill?
The original recipe calls for dried dill. With fresh dill, the sauce will have a different, more intense and slightly different flavor. If you don’t like dried dill, it’s better not to add it at all.

4. Can I make the sauce with clarified butter?
No, the sauce needs to have the texture of fat butter, not be translucent. Clarified butter doesn’t bind the same way with mustard and lemon juice.

5. How long should the fish sit with salt?
Leave it for at least 20 minutes. It’s enough for it to absorb the salt without becoming dry.

Nutritional values (estimate)

For one serving (approximately 200-220 g of fish with sauce):

Calories: 320-350 kcal
Protein: 28-30 g
Fat: 19-21 g (mostly from fish and butter)
Carbohydrates: 3-5 g (almost only from mustard)

These values may vary depending on the size of the fish pieces and how much sauce you use per serving.

Storage and reheating

Grilled carp is best eaten fresh. If leftovers remain, they can be stored in the fridge in a closed container for up to 24 hours. I don’t recommend reheating grilled fish, as the meat becomes dry and the smell intensifies. The butter sauce should be consumed on the same day; otherwise, it separates.

That’s all you need to know for this recipe. No complicated steps, no hard-to-find ingredients, just fish, grill, and a simple sauce that really makes a difference.

We wash the pieces/slices of carp, then drain them well and sprinkle with salt. We let the fish absorb the salt for about 20 minutes. We fry the fish on the grill or stovetop. Separately, we make a butter sauce as follows: We gently heat the butter and stir it with a wooden spoon until it melts completely. We add lemon juice and mix well. When the butter starts to thicken slightly, we add mustard and combine. We add salt, pepper, and dried, crushed dill. We place the hot fish on a plate and serve it with polenta and mustard butter sauce. It is delicious!

 Ingredients: 4 carp fillets 50 g fatty butter juice of one lemon 2 tablespoons mustard salt pepper chopped dill

 Tags:  grilled carp grilled fish