 Out of the water and onto the table
So you've had a great day of fishing with the kids, and you come home with a livewell full of potential fillets. What now? It's time to learn how to turn your day's catch into your evening's dinner.
The first steps
Ultimately, the quality and flavor of the fish you catch will depend on how carefully it's handled from the beginning. Fish bruise easily and spoil quickly, so they must be kept out of the sun and cleaned and refrigerated immediately. Here's a tip: it will all go much more smoothly if you have a high-quality knife designed for filleting, as well as a sharpening stone or steel for giving it a good edge.
How to fillet a fish |
1. Wash the fish thoroughly with water
2. Scale the fish, if you're planning to leave the skin on. To remove the scales, scrape with the dull edge if the knife from the tail to the head.
3. To simply fillet the fish, it's not necessary to remove the viscera. With a sharp knife, cut down the back of the fish, from the tail to the head. Then, just behind the gills cut down to the backbone. Angle the knife to cut away the flesh from the backbone, allowing the knife to run over the rib bones. Lift off the side piece, freeing the fillet at the tail. Turn the fish over, and cut the fillet from the other side.
4. If you wish to skin the fillet, lay it skin-side down on a cutting board. Hold the tail end firmly with your fingers, and hold the knife crosswise across the fillet. Insert the knife between the skin and flesh, and run the knife forward, cutting away from the tail. |
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