Information from the intercook website.
The fish is on your table. What's next?Before starting the actual preparation of the fish dish, raw fish must be prepared. This applies to live, frozen (including fillets and minced meat), as well as salted fish. Considering the fact that smoked fish and canned food are suitable for consumption immediately after purchase, we will not consider their processing in this section. For cutting any fish, use a grater (to remove scales), a fish knife, a knife for filleting, scissors, a whetstone (bar), a cutting board. The cutting board should be large enough, stable, moderately heavy, smooth, and made of fine-grained hardwood. The knives, of course, must be sharp.
Live fishYou cannot torture the fish, remove, if it is alive, scales or remove the skin. Those who leave the fish to suffocate and suffer in the air do not act in the best way either. Therefore, as soon as the fish is taken out of the water, it must be killed immediately. The fish can be killed by stunning it with a sharp blow (ideally with a wooden object, such as a stick to avoid damage) on the top of the head. You can use another method: bend the head of the fish strongly, until it crunches back. It's easier to do this by sticking your thumb in her mouth, unless of course there are sharp teeth. The spine is then cut directly behind the head of the fish. With this method, the blood flows well from the fish. The disadvantage of this method is that such a carcass is more difficult to cut: remove the skin and cut into pieces. Therefore, I recommend a very simple method - cutting the abdominal aorta in a fish. This method is more reliable, because stunning does not give a 100% kill guarantee. The blood drains quickly, and the fish meat will better retain its taste, whiteness and firmness. However, this procedure must be carried out while the fish is "strong", that is, while the heart is able to pump blood.
Before the start of cutting, the fish is left alone for some time so that the blood is better than glass. First of all, the gills and entrails are taken out, since the centers of bacteria in them cause rapid spoilage of the fish. Clotted blood under the spine is also carefully removed. The sequence of cutting the fish is as follows: first, they are cleaned of scales and skinned (though this is not done in all cases), gutted, cut into pieces or cut into fillets. Fish intended for frying should always be peeled off. For cooking, it is not recommended to remove scales from the fish, since skin with scales has valuable taste and contains nutrients that you simply throw away with the scales. It is necessary to remove scales from not very fresh fish. The rules are as follows: remove the scales from the fish the day you gut it; if the scaly cover is dry, wet it, for example, by immersing the fish in hot water for one minute; start removing scales from the side of the fish's tail; it is not difficult to separate the scales, running across the fish with a grater and slightly pressing it. When removing scales in the kitchen, the fish can be placed in a large plastic bag. This way you won't be scattering scales around the table. Eels, burbots and large flounders are usually skinned. For the preparation of some dishes, these fish are also suitable with skin. The skin is often removed from the perch.
When cutting fish, care should be taken not to damage the meat. Bacteria can easily penetrate through damaged areas. The skin of the fish and the surface of the peritoneum form a protective shell. You should especially try not to pierce or cut the intestine so that its contents do not get into the abdominal cavity. The blood and mucus covering the fish with adhering dirt is washed off. Later, washing the carcass must be repeated.Thoroughly remove caked blood under the spine, as it gives an unpleasant aftertaste and contributes to fish spoilage. If you do not immediately start cooking the fish, after gutting and rinsing it should not be cut into small pieces or fillets, but rather left intact. The smaller the pieces, the more unprotected meat, which is easily exposed to bacteria and spoilage. To wash the fish, you need clean water, preferably running water. Since some of the nutrients dissolve in water and the fish becomes less tasty, it should not be kept in water for a long time. But, on the other hand, it is advisable to rinse the fish more thoroughly and for longer, thereby reducing the risk of spoilage.
Frozen fishFrozen fish and fish fillets are pre-thawed. The fish should thaw slowly, at room temperature (it is advisable to wrap it in paper to avoid drying out) or in cold water (you can add a teaspoon of salt per liter of water) so that the fish thaws faster and does not dry out. In water (especially with the addition of salt), the fish thaws quickly. Frozen fillets and fish of valuable species should be thawed only in air, not in water. But it is recommended to fry not thawed fillets. It will be juicier and tastier. It is not recommended to use warm water for thawing: the fish becomes flabby and tasteless. After thawing, the fish is rinsed with clean cold water.
After thawing, fish must be cleaned immediately. First of all, sharp fins are cut off from non-gutted fish and scales are removed. To make the scales easier to remove, the fish should not be dry. Cleaning should start from the tail. To do this, you can use various types of scrapers or the blunt end of a kitchen knife. In some species of marine fish, scales (for example, horse mackerel) are especially tight to the skin. It is recommended to immerse such fish in boiling water for a few seconds before cleaning. If it is going to be cooked whole, then the scales can be left altogether during cooking. In this case, the fish is opened, the entrails and gills are removed, washed with running water and boiled. It is very easy to remove skin and scales from boiled fish. Many sea fish have thick skin (catfish, conger eel, etc.), sometimes with a strong specific odor, so the skin must be removed before preparing the fish for food. Some fish that do not have scales (large sea burbots and eelpouts, conger eels) are completely skinned. To do this, before opening the fish, cut the skin around the head, and then tighten it with a stocking. You can sprinkle coarse salt on your hand, then it is easier to hold the slippery fish. But even more convenient is to divide the already peeled fish along the spine into two fillets and then cut the flesh from the skin with a knife. Flounder and sole can be cleaned with a knife, stiff brush, or a grater. But in these two fish (especially in the larger ones), you can also cut the skin near the tail from the dark side and, rolling it around the edge of the knife, remove the skin all the way to the head. Usually, skin is removed only from the dark side. Then the vertebral bone is cut in the occipital part and the abdominal cavity is removed with an oblique cut along with the viscera. In large flounders and sea tongues, when they are gutted, washed and dried, two fillets can be cut along the vertebral bone on both sides. It is recommended to cook fish broth from the bones and heads of sea fish, which remain after plating on fillets (fins, gills and eyes are separated from them, giving a bitter taste), it is recommended to cook fish broth, which can be used to make fish sauces and soups. Then the fish is washed and opened with scissors, and the incision is made from the anus. In this case, one must try not to damage the gallbladder located near the liver, since bile can spoil the taste of meat. Blood clots and film found in all fish in the abdominal cavity, along the spine, when cleaning fish should be removed by scraping with a knife, rubbing with salt, a brush, clean gauze or cloth.
Salty fishLightly salted fish and spicy salted fish are eaten without preliminary soaking.Strongly salted fish is soaked. The fish should be washed before soaking. The duration and method of soaking depend on the salt content of the fish, on the size, type, quantity of fish, its processing and what will be prepared from it, etc. etc. Fish (pike perch, carp, bream, etc.) are soaked in cold water for 30-40 minutes. Pour enough water to cover the fish. After that, the fish is cleaned of scales, cut into pieces, washed and again immersed in clean cold water for soaking for a longer period. The whole fish or its pieces are placed in cold water (for 1 kg of fish, about 2 liters of water). The water must be changed during soaking. To prevent the subcutaneous part of large fish from softening too much, it is recommended to remove the fish from the water during soaking for 1-2 hours. Depending on the salt content, soaking can take up to 24 hours.
Herring is processed in a slightly different way. They gut it first. Put the herring (if it is dirty, wash it with clean water) on soft paper and scrape the skin with a knife. Open the fish. Cut off the head. Remove the insides from the opened herring together with the head. Clean the abdominal cavity of blood and dark film. To do this, you can use a knife, clean paper, gauze, etc. Lightly salted herring (especially canned and boxed herring) is not recommended to be washed with water when gutting, as the appetizing and tasty herring fat is washed off with the water.
Strongly salted herring can be soaked whole or fillets after gutting. For soaking, it is necessary to immerse the peeled herring for 6-24 hours in a large amount of cold water. During soaking, the water should be changed a couple of times. Low fat herring takes longer to soak. If you need to quickly soak the herring, it must be cut into two halves without removing the skin along the spine and soaked in skimmed fresh milk or in diluted natural slightly sweetened tea. Milk gives the herring a pleasant, delicate taste. For softening, the fillet of strong-salted low-fat herring can be poured with a small amount of hot water and left in it for a short time (30 sec. - 2 min.). Dry the soaked herring. Lightly salted peel. Make an incision along the back and remove the skin, starting from the head to the tail and from the back to the abdomen. Cut the rib bones on both sides of the spine and separate the fillets. Carefully remove ribs and other, even the smallest bones from the fillet, and cut off the thin edge of the abdomen. It can be used to make a salad, casserole, or sauce. Dry the fillets with clean white paper, fold them together in two and cut them with a sharp knife on a faience or a wooden board specially used for fish into beautiful pieces 2-3 cm long. When serving, put the pieces on a herring-shaped dish. Fillets can be cut and consumed in a different way, depending on what they want to cook from it.
Practical methods for cutting fishWhichever way you are going to cook the fish - whole, boneless, fillet or cut into pieces - first of all it must be peeled and cut. Purely fish, which are caught with a net in deep waters, are gutted even before they are brought to the shore. Fish caught not far from the shore or in fresh waters are sold not gutted. In most cases, the giblets of such fish must be removed, and the fins and scales must be removed.
Removal of fins.Fins trimming This operation is performed mainly for aesthetic reasons. The fish, which should be served whole, looks more neat and attractive when its fins and tail are removed. Plus, it's easier to serve and eat. If you are cooking fish with sharp fins, such as sea bass or golden pagra (pictured left), it is wise to trim the fins before continuing with the rest of the cooking, as wounds caused by sharp fins are painful and take a long time to heal. The dorsal and other large fins are firmly attached to the fish skeleton. It is more convenient to separate them with large scissors.If you are boiling the whole fish, it is easier to remove the fins with your fingers after the fish is cooked.
Place the fish on a cutting board to remove the fins. Use scissors to cut off the dorsal fin, making a cutting motion towards the tail. If you are going to remove bones, the dorsal fin is cut off completely. Then place the tip of the knife into the bone under the fin that connects the fin to the body of the fish and remove the fin and bones using the knife as a lever. Finally, cut off the pectoral, pelvic and anus fins as shown in the photo.
Removal of scales.Scaling All fish, with the exception of eels and sharks, are scaled. In many fish species, the scales are small and an integral part of the skin. Others (carp, mullet) have wide and bony scales. However, it adheres loosely to the skin and can be scraped off with a knife blade (see photo on the left), a special serrated blade or a fish scaler. Fish with firmly seated scales (river perch, tench) are recommended to be dipped in boiling water for a moment, after which the scales are easily removed.
Place the fish on a cutting board to remove the scales. Firmly holding the fish by the tail, use a knife blade or a fish peel to scrape towards the fish's head, i.e. in the opposite direction to the one in which the scales grow. Be especially careful with the head and fins. To avoid scattering scales throughout the kitchen, it is best to clean the fish by placing it in a large plastic bag or in a wide bowl filled with water. After removing the scales, rinse the fish thoroughly.
Gutting fish. There are two main ways of gutting fish: through the belly and through the gills. Gutting through the belly is a quick and convenient method, especially if you want to later separate the meat from the bones or cook fillets.
When the recipe requires the head of the fish to be removed, cut off the head just behind the gill holes. The photo shows the preparation of herring for separating the meat from the bones before frying. Using large scissors or a sharp knife, cut the abdomen up to the anus. Take out the insides. Run the knife along both sides of the ridge to remove blood accumulations. Rinse the fish in cold water.
Evisceration through the gills. If you are going to cook whole fish, or stuff it or make aspic from whole fish, then it is preferable to gut it through the gills to keep the shape of the fish. To clean flat fish, the insides of which occupy a small area just below the gills. Just make a small cut behind the gills and pull out the insides.
To gut the fish for cooking it whole and with the filling, pull all the insides with your fingers through the gill slit in a single piece together with the gills. Rinse the fish in cold water.
Skinning flat fish. If you are filleting a small fish such as a sole, then it will be convenient to remove the skin from it at this stage. The flat fish from which the fillets will be prepared must be completely skinned.
Place the fish dark side up on a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut the skin where the body meets the tail (photo on the left). Using a knife blade or nails, start with a cut to separate the free end from the meat until you can firmly grasp it.
Shake off the skin. Step 2 Take the free end of the skin with one hand and press down on the tail with the other using a tissue to keep your fingers from slipping. Pull the skin firmly towards the fish's head (photo on the right). After reaching the jaws, turn the fish to the other side and, holding its head, continue to pull the skin until the tail is free.
Flat fish that will be cooked whole should only be peeled on the dark, top side, as the white skin on the underside helps keep the fish whole during the cooking process.
Round fish or large flat fish such as turbot are easier to peel off the skin after they are cooked or after filleting.