how do you fillet fish

With summer and barbeques upon us, if you’re fishing, you’ll want to fry up the catch for a delicious meal. Many people cook fish whole, but if you want a fish burger or the classic fried fillet between two slices of white bread, you won’t want to contend with bones. So how do you fillet fish? Let’s take a look at how to carve fillets step by step.

 

Removing the slime

Fish have a slime coating that acts as a protective barrier as it moves through the water. This makes handling fish tricky as they’re slippery. It’s important to remove the coating before cutting, as it increases the chance of an accident. Rinse your catch with decent water pressure to remove the slime, such as with a garden hose. Dry it off well so it doesn’t slip or slide when you make your cuts.

 

What you’ll need to fillet fish

• Cutting board
• Filleting knife set
• Butcher’s chainmail stainless steel mesh glove recommended for safety

The first cut

For safety, these instructions have you cutting away from you, never towards you. Place the fish on a cutting board with its tail facing you. Make a diagonal cut where the fish’s head meets the body behind the pectoral fin. The cut is deep enough when you contact the backbone. Don’t cut through the backbone.

 

Cutting along the back

Turn the fish so the back is facing you. Press down to hold the fish firmly by the head and insert the tip of the blade at the fish’s back where you made your first cut. Your blade should face the tail. Make a shallow cut down the back to the tail using the ribs to guide you.

 

Reaching the tail

At the thinnest part before the tail, and still using the ribs as your guide, cut through towards the underside of the fish. You want the blade to come through above the tail fin. With your knife in position, cut through in one motion, exiting before reaching the tail to create a flap.

 

Cutting around the ribs

Return your knife to the top of the cut along the fish’s back. Use the ribs as your guide and run the knife through the cut at a shallow angle. This may take several passes depending on how much practice you’ve had filleting fish. If you open the incision with your free hand, you’ll see the ribs as you cut, which prevents cutting to deeply.

 

Slicing off the fillet

Once you’ve cut the fillet away from the ribs, run the knife through the fish below your first cut at the head so the tip pokes out through the belly. You should be able to make one slice through the fish towards the tail to remove the fillet from the body. Set it aside. Turn the fish over and repeat the process to remove the second fillet. If you’ve done your butchering right, you’ll have a head, skeleton and tail.

 

Removing the skin

Depending on the variety of the fish, you may want to remove the skin. Although, when descaled, the skin becomes crispy and delicious on the barbeque and helps to hold the fillet together.

If you want to remove the skin, sharpen your knife. Place the fillet skin side down on the board with the thin end closest to you. Press and hold the fillet firmly. Working from the thin end of the fillet, cut through the flesh to the skin at a shallow angle. Pull the fillet towards you, with the blade facing away from you, without cutting through the skin.

 

Removing pin bones

It’s difficult to cut the perfect fillet every time. Fish have many small bones, so it’s easy for one or two to get left behind. Some varieties of fish have small bones that protrude from the spine above the ribs, which end up in the fillet.

Run your fingers along the centre lines of your fillet, and you’ll feel any bones in the flesh. Pull them out with tweezers or cut along the row of bones on each side to remove them from the flesh.