It occurred to me recently that not many people know how to prepare a fish. I don't mean how to cook a fish, but how to scale, gut, filet, or debone. I've always believed that you should be able to look your food in the face before it winds up on the your plate, and it only adds about five extra minutes to your cooking time. So let's get started! Today I grabbed a Striped Bass from a local asian market. It has a single spine running down the center length of the fish. If you can filet this fish, you can filet many others of the same bone structure, such as other Bass species and Red Snappers, Porgys, Mullets, and Salmon.
1) Remove the scales by scraping the sides of the fish (against the grain) with the spine of a butter knife.
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| Some fish, like this one, have barbs - be careful not to catch your fingers on them. |
2) Place the tip of your knife in the fish's asshole and give it a good slice, all the way up to it's gills. Don't be shy. You can remove the guts if you wish but we're just taking the filet so it's not necessary here.
3) Place the blade of the knife horizontally along the top seam of the fish, resting the flat part of the blade against the dorsal spines. Make a shallow cut to mark the line where you will later filet across the spine of the fish. Then place two vertical cuts, one just behind the gills and one more just ahead of the tail. Roll the fish over and make these three cuts again.
4) Gently insert the tip of your knife into your horizontal cut and try to feel your knife make slight contact with the spine bones. Try to do this delicately and feel free to make many smaller cuts as you go because you dont want to lose any meat! When you finish, flip it over and repeat. It may get slightly more difficult with the second filet because of the missing flesh.
3) Place the blade of the knife horizontally along the top seam of the fish, resting the flat part of the blade against the dorsal spines. Make a shallow cut to mark the line where you will later filet across the spine of the fish. Then place two vertical cuts, one just behind the gills and one more just ahead of the tail. Roll the fish over and make these three cuts again.
4) Gently insert the tip of your knife into your horizontal cut and try to feel your knife make slight contact with the spine bones. Try to do this delicately and feel free to make many smaller cuts as you go because you dont want to lose any meat! When you finish, flip it over and repeat. It may get slightly more difficult with the second filet because of the missing flesh.
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| When you feel your blade move past each spine bone you get results like this 5) After removing your filets, trim the white skinned belly portion off and you are ready to bake, sear, fry or whatever! |
If I may offer a suggestion:
Pan seared with cajun seasoning and hush puppies.
Pan seared with cajun seasoning and hush puppies.
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