In order to prepare a delicious dish of pike, you must first properly process the carcass itself. As a rule, pure meat is used for cooking. Therefore, you must know in advance how to remove skin from a pike. The case is troublesome and time-consuming. Every mistress has her secrets here.
How to get a clean filet
Pike is a predatory freshwater fish that lives in the basins of rivers and seas of the northern hemisphere. Her meat contains a huge amount of vitamins and various minerals, which have a beneficial effect on the human body. Most often, this fish fillet is used in cooking. Therefore, every housewife should know how to remove skin from a pike. You can do this in many ways. Everything will depend on which particular dish you plan to cook from it. Before you figure out how to remove skin from a pike, you must first prepare a fresh carcass. To do this, it is necessary:
- rinse thoroughly from mucus and other contaminants;
- clear of scales;
- remove the head and cut the gills;
- gut, removing all the insides;
- process the carcass again under running water.
Only after this can you start the main work. Before you remove the skin from a pike, you must do a few mandatory steps:
- Carefully cut off the fins located on the belly.
- Using a thin and sharp knife, make an incision at the head to the ridge. It is necessary to ensure that the hole does not turn out through.
- Turning the blade 90 degrees, draw it along the entire ridge to the tail, thereby separating the fillet from the bone.
- The same thing to do on the other hand.
- Now, in a similar way, you need to cut clean meat, pressing the knife close to the skin. We must act slowly. Otherwise, you can leave part of the skin on the fillet, which will then be much more difficult to remove.
The result is clean meat. And after that, the skin can simply be thrown away.
Valuable semi-finished product
Experts say that fish skin is a fairly durable and wear-resistant product. Some peoples of the North even use it to make clothes. In cooking, this property has also found its application. Sometimes the skin is used as a sleeve for baking. For this, it must remain intact and intact. In this case, you will need to master the technique of how to remove the skin from the pike stocking.
Here, the hostess will need special skill and skill:
- First, as usual, the carcass must be washed and cleaned of unnecessary scales.
- Then, an incision should be made along the gills, without separating the head. The novice hostess will have to try very hard. Although for the first time to ease the work, you can cut off your head.
- Next, you need to stretch all the insides and rinse the prepared carcass well with water.
- Now begins the most difficult stage - the separation of the skin. To better lag behind, the entire surface of the fish should be lightly patted with the flat part of the knife blade.
- On the very edge with the tip of a knife, make small cuts inward.
- Pry off the edge of the skin and pull it down towards the tail. In places where the meat holds especially firmly, additional small incisions can be made.
At the end, the skin is sometimes cut off. But some prefer to leave her with her tail. This will give an effect to the future dish.
Features of cooking pike cutlets
They say that delicious pork patties are made from pike. To verify this, you yourself must try to cook such a dish. Here, the most important thing is the preparation for the work of the main component. Most often this is pure meat with the addition of a small amount of lard. With its help, finished products will become softer and more tender in taste. At the same time, it is better to remove the skin, since it can only spoil the dish. After grinding in a meat grinder, the skin makes the meat more elastic. As a result, cutlets become simply "rubber". How to remove skin from pike for cutlets? To do this, you may need a sharp knife and ordinary pliers. After completing all the preparatory steps, you need to grab the edges of the pliers with sharp pliers and tear off pieces of the skin with sharp movements.
After that, fillet should be cut from the cleaned carcass, and the bones set aside. They usually make a good rich ear. Those who are not used to working with such tools can do the same thing with their hands. True, holding your slippery skin with your fingers is not so easy. But after several attempts, this can be learned.
Special training
Stuffed pike is one of the most popular cooking options for this fish. How to peel pike skin for stuffing?
Most often in this case, proceed as follows:
- First, the fish must be cleaned of scales and various growths.
- Then it must be thoroughly washed outside with a brush and rinsed with water.
- To remove all fins (side and tail) with kitchen scissors.
- Use a sharp knife to remove the gills. This must be done very carefully so as not to cut your hands on sharp pike teeth.
- After cutting the central cartilage, separate the head. In this case, you must try not to damage the skin. She will connect the head with the rest of the carcass.
- Remove all entrails without ripping open the belly. You can do this with a spoon or fork.
- By applying circular incisions from the inside, gradually tighten the skin to the very tail.
- Chop the cartilage below and separate the meat along with the spine.
- Cut the fillet.
After this, the “bag” of the peel should be thoroughly rinsed from the inside, to then fill it with minced meat.