The Great Gar Experiment

By Andrew Zimmern

Fishing for alligator gar is an adventure of a lifetime. Believe it or not, this was not only my first time fishing for alligator gar, but also the first time I’ve cooked it or tasted it, and I can’t say that about a lot animals. While the joy of cooking may be putting the perfect piece of food on a plate, it’s also about experimenting, trying new things and learning from new ingredients. So I present, the great gar experiment. Gar has lots of sinew, and the easiest way to work around that is to scrape the flesh away from the tough sinew. The texture of the gar flesh is ideally suited for fried fish balls, and because it doesn’t have a strong flavor, this allows you to introduce herbs and seasonings with ease. I’m serving them with a sticky, sweet and sour dipping sauce that’s so craveable, it would make anything taste great.

Sweet & Sour Gar Balls

Ingredients

2 pounds gar, minced
1 ½ cups Ritz cracker crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup minced green onions
1/4 cup minced fennel bulb
1 jalapeno or serrano, minced
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 tablespoon Andrew Zimmern’s Madras Curry seasoning
Flour, for rolling and frying
2 quarts vegetable oil, for frying

Instructions

Roughly chop the fish and pulse it in a food processor until it’s well chopped, but not a paste. Or, if you actually have meat from a large gar, you would scrape the meat away from the sinew.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the gar, cracker crumbs, egg, vegetables, parsley and curry powder. Season and mix well to combine. Let rest in fridge for an hour. Form into small patties, then roll each patty in flour.

In a large cast iron skillet, heat a couple inches of vegetable oil to 375 degrees F. Fry the gar patties for about 3 minutes per side, or until just cooked through and golden brown. Serve with the sweet and sour dipping sauce.