Probably, everyone knows that fish (river and especially marine) is a valuable and useful product for the body, a real storehouse of trace elements and amino acids that a person needs for a full life, today. It is no coincidence that people living in Primorye have long been famous for their longevity and health - 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 benefit to the maximum and at the same time gets rid of even small bones. We will try to fill this gap in this article.
Tools
Some people think that it’s quite difficult: to free these cold-blooded from bones, especially the smallest. But in fact, everything is quite simple. Let's work out together, maybe a couple of fish will go to study, 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 tool. We will need:
- kitchen scissors for cutting fins;
- a knife for freeing from scales;
- a sharp knife with a thin blade to separate the pulp from the bones;
- long carcass cutting board;
- tweezers (but you can do without it);
- and, of course, the fish itself.
With this minimum set, you can already begin to take action. By the way, regarding the cleaning knife: the simplest and most popular tool in the people is an oil knife (with small teeth) or a vegetable (short) one. You can undoubtedly take advantage of modern technologies: fish scalers of various kinds, if you have them. But an ordinary potato knife will be enough.
How to cut fish: a detailed workshop
- At first, it is recommended that if the fish is fresh, rinse the carcasses in cool water under the tap. We perform this simple procedure before cutting the fish 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 does not matter, there is no global difference: before or after.
- We start cleaning the carcass from the 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.
Several life hacks from experienced cleaners
- To prevent your fingers from slipping off, you can dip them periodically in coarse salt.
- If you do not want to collect the scales throughout the kitchen after cleaning, you can perform the cleaning procedure from the scales in a large plastic bag by putting the fish there and putting your hands in it. Thus, you get rid of the need for additional cleaning of the room.
- Before you clean a small fish with small nasty scales (for example, perch), you can pull the carcass by the tail strongly enough, holding the fish by the head with the other hand, as if stretching it. So the scales will lag much easier.
How to gut?
After making sure that the whole carcass is cleaned of small scales (especially take a closer look at the tail), we proceed to gutting.
- How to cut fish, freeing it from the insides? To begin with, it should be thoroughly washed from possible residues of scales.
- We put the carcass on a chopping board (it should be repeated, it should be narrow, but long enough for the fish to fit on it) with our head on ourselves.
- Holding the carcass with your hand, we introduce the end of the knife into the hole in 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 do not spread), halving the bony part at the base of the lower jaw, located between the fins of the fish (front).
- We remove the insides by grabbing them with our fingers in the area of the base of the fish’s head. For fastidious housewives: you can use large tweezers for these purposes. We take out the entire intestine. Separate the liver and caviar, if available. Be sure to remove the film that covers the abdominal cavity so that it does not get bitter during cooking.
Head
What to do with a fish head? The question is far from idle. Before cutting fish into fillets, this very head, of course, must be cut off at the very base. But if you are going to put the fresh carcass away for storage in the freezer or want to cook the inhabitant of the depths whole, that is, with your 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, preferably under running water.
How to cut fish into fillets?
Some perceive such manipulations as aerobatics of culinary art, but in reality there is nothing too complicated in the process - you only need a sharp knife and skills that are acquired experimentally.
- So, as already mentioned, you need a special curved (loin) knife. With it, the easiest way to wield. But in extreme cases, a sharp, medium-length kitchen knife with a not too thick blade will do.
- Along the spine with one longitudinal cut we cut the carcass from the head to the back. The blade should go along the bone, and not cut it (this can be felt tactilely), without much stress and effort.
- We begin to cut the fish along, deepening the cut so that the ribs are 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).
- The edge of the peritoneum is cut off along with the hypochondria.
- Carefully probe the resulting fillet. If bones are found, take tweezers and pull out. After which the fillet can be used for further cooking.
Expert Advice
- Before cutting, check that your knives are sharpened carefully. If stupid - it should be undermined with improvised means. Otherwise, the blade will not cut, but tear the flesh.
- To remove or not to remove the skin is up to you. If you are going to fry fish in a pan or on the grill, then it’s better not to do this: the skin will support the fillet so that it does not fall apart when cooking. If you are going to cook or stew - you can remove it. We do this by slightly incising along the edge at the very base of the meat. Then, with careful 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 among the population. How to cut red fish - trout or salmon, for example? The algorithm of actions and tools are approximately the same, but there are also some nuances. Today we will tell you how to cut red fish on a fillet (let it be salmon).
- We cut the head in a circle around the gill bone.
- We cut off the underfin with scissors or a knife.
- Inside, along the spine (try in one motion), we separate the costal bones.
- 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 remaining pulp from the ridge with a fork (then it can be used, for example, for rolls).
- We clean the future fillet from the spinal bones. Separate the ribs with a knife, then remove the smaller bones with tweezers and remove the skin with a sharp knife.
Who is dreaming about?
And finally: do you know what it means if you had to cut fish in a dream, especially a living one? Such a dream is not entirely good, according to many modern and ancient dream books. It can mean a quick loss of health (by you or loved ones), dissatisfaction with your position and appearance. And if a woman dreams of cutting fish, then she will not give way to her hobbies and sympathies for the man. But to clean the fish in a dream is to soon overcome difficulties, and to prepare it for material well-being.