How to cut fish: instructions, recommendations and useful tips

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

The fact that fish (river and especially sea) is a valuable and useful product for the body, a real storehouse of microelements and amino acids necessary for a person for a full life, probably everyone knows today. It is no coincidence that people living in Primorye have long been famous for their longevity and he alth - physical and mental. But at the same time, not every housewife or home cook has information on how to cut fish according to all the rules so that it retains its benefits as much as possible and at the same time gets rid of even small bones. Let's try to fill this gap in this article.

Toolkit

Some people think it's quite difficult to free these cold-blooded ones from the bones, especially the smallest ones. But in fact, everything is quite simple. Let's train together, maybe a couple of fish will go to training, but the third one, most likely, will be cleaned in an ideal way. But before you cut the fish, you still need to acquire the necessary tools. We will need:

• kitchen scissors for cutting fins;
• scaling knife;
• sharp knifewith a thin blade to separate the pulp from the bones;
• long cutting board;
• tweezers (but you can do without it);
• and, of course, the fish itself.

With this minimum set, you can already begin to act. By the way, about the cleaning knife: the simplest and most popular tool among the people is a butter knife (with small teeth) or a vegetable knife (short). You can, no doubt, use modern technologies: fish scalers of various types, if you have them available. But an ordinary potato knife will be enough.

How to cut fish: a detailed master class

• First, it is recommended that if the fish is fresh, rinse the carcasses in cool tap water. We perform this simple procedure before butchering the fish in order to free it from excess mucus, dirt, algae (and suddenly, you never know) and other elements we do not need.
• The second step is to cut the fins with kitchen scissors. Some sources indicate that this should be done after cleaning the fish from scales. But, most likely, this is of no fundamental importance, there is no global difference: before or after.
• We start cleaning the carcass from scales. It is more convenient to clean from the tail, holding the fish itself with one hand, and with the other, making short characteristic movements with a knife or a device for removing scales from the tail to the head.

A few life hacks from experienced cleaners

1. To keep fingers fromslipped, you can dip them periodically in coarse kitchen s alt.
2. If you do not want to collect scales all over the kitchen after cleaning, you can perform the cleaning procedure in a large plastic bag, putting the fish there and putting your hands in it. Thus, you will get rid of the need for additional cleaning of the premises.
3. Before cleaning a medium-sized fish with small nasty scales (for example, perches), you can pull the carcass by the tail quite strongly, holding the fish by the head with the other hand, as if stretching it. This will make the scales fall off much easier.

How to gut?

Making sure that the whole carcass is cleaned of small scales (especially look at the tail), proceed to gutting.

1. How to properly butcher a fish, freeing it from the insides? To begin with, it should be thoroughly washed from possible remnants of scales.
2. Put the carcass on the cutting board (we repeat, it should be narrow, but long enough for the fish to fit on it) with your head away from you.
3. Holding the carcass with your hand, insert the end of the knife into the hole on the abdomen and make a longitudinal incision towards the head to its very base (the knife should not be immersed too deep so that the insides are not damaged and spread), dividing the bony part in half the base of the lower jaw, located between the fins of the fish (front).
4. Remove the insides by grabbing them with your fingers near the base of the fish's head. For squeamish housewives: it is possible for these purposesuse large tweezers. We take out the entire intestine. We separate the liver and caviar, if available. Be sure to remove the film that covers the abdominal cavity so that it does not taste bitter when cooked.

Head

What to do with the head of the fish? The question is by no means idle. Before you cut the fish into fillets, this same head, of course, must be cut off at the very base. But if you are going to put away a fresh carcass for storage in the freezer or want to cook the whole dweller of the depths, that is, with the head, then it will be extremely necessary to remove the gills. This is done with kitchen scissors. After all, do not forget to thoroughly rinse the fish again before cooking it, preferably under running water.

How to fillet fish properly?

Some people perceive such manipulations as the aerobatics of culinary arts, but in fact there is nothing too complicated in the process - all you need is a sharp knife and skills that are acquired through experience.

1. So, as already mentioned, you need a special curved (fillet) knife. It is the easiest to use with it. But in extreme cases, a sharp, medium-length kitchen knife with a not too thick blade will do.
2. Along the spine, cut the carcass from the head to the back with one longitudinal cut. The blade should go along the bone, and not cut it (you can feel it tactilely), without much tension and effort.
3. Begin to cut the fish lengthwise, deepening the cut tothe ribs were also captured. We repeat the same procedure on the other side of the spine, as if highlighting it (the knife works best at an angle of 45 degrees).
4. The edge of the peritoneum is cut off together with the hypochondrium bones.
5. Carefully probe the resulting fillet. If bones are found, take tweezers and pull them out. After that, the fillet can be used for further cooking.

Expert Tips

• Before butchering, check that your knives are carefully sharpened. If blunt - should be sharpened with improvised means. Otherwise, the blade will not cut, but tear the flesh.
• To skin or not to skin is up to you. If you are going to fry the fish in a pan or on the grill, then it is better not to do this: the skin will support the fillet so that it does not fall apart during cooking. If you are going to cook or stew - you can remove it. We do this by slightly cutting along the edge at the very base of the meat. Then, with gentle movements, we pass along, tearing off gradually.

Red fish

A few words about this beauty of the seas and rivers, which has recently been available and popular with the population. How to butcher red fish - trout or salmon, for example? The algorithm of actions and tools are about the same, but there are some nuances. Today we will tell you how to fillet red fish (let it be salmon).

1. Cut off the head around the gill bone.
2. Cut with scissors or a knifetail fin.
3. From the inside along the spine (try in one motion) we separate the costal bones.
4. We pull out the ridge, trying not to get hurt. To do this, you can hold the bone using toilet paper or a paper towel. It is more convenient to remove the remains of the pulp from the ridge with a fork (then it can be used, for example, for rolls).
5. Cleaning the future fillet from the spinal bones. Separate the ribs with a knife, then take out the smaller bones with tweezers and remove the skin with a sharp knife.

Who's dreaming?

And finally: do you know what it means if you had to butcher fish in a dream, especially live fish? Such a dream is not entirely good, according to many modern and ancient dream books. It can mean a quick loss of he alth (by you or loved ones), dissatisfaction with your position and appearance. And if a woman dreams of carving a fish, then she will not give in to her hobbies and sympathies in relation to a man. But to clean fish in a dream - to quickly overcome difficulties, and to cook it - to material well-being.