Overcoming my fear of filleting fish

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chefyomii

Assistant Cook
Joined
Sep 19, 2022
Messages
1
Location
Nevada
Seriously! I know it's all in my head so I want to know what you guys would do to overcome the anxiety before filleting and deboning a fish
 
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There are some fish that can be filleted and/or deboned. The easiest ones are the Asian Carp new to the midwest. I thought horseshoe a fish would be easy but getting threw the bone was hard. If you screw up ... there's always batter to mend the problem.
 
Welcome chefyomii. I've never had to fillet a fish, watched my mum do many, just never did myself. But... I have tackled other cuts of meat, beef, pork, chicken... and every time I have to take a BIG breath and mutter constantly... I can do it, I can do it, I can do it. Still can't but still try.
I'm not tooo bad at skinning a salmon though.
 
Welcome to Discuss Cooking, chefyomii. I can't give you any advice because, I haven't tried to fillet a fish. Have you checked out any videos of how to filet a fish? I just looked and there seem to be quite a few. Here's a link to some videos on how to filet a fish
 
Choose fish like trout, salmon, catfish, bass. Larger fish are easier to fillet than smaller fish. Think of fish as slabs of neat connected in the middle by a backbone, and ribs. Start by cutting off the yead, just behind the gill plate, angling toaeard the back of the head. This exposes the spine. Remove the dorsal, snd ventral fins by cutting just deep enough and cutting from the head towards the tail. Use a very sharp, thin knife for the job. Start the fillet by cutting along the backbone, again from head to tail, and at an angle toward the belly, sliding the knife edge along the rib bones. The entire side slab will be removed, leaving the uneanted parts behind. Repeat with the other side. When the meat slabs are removed, throw away the discarded parts, and wash cleaning area. Lay the fillets skin side dow. Starting at the tail end, slide your fillet between the flesh, and skin. Rock the fillet gently from side to side, while pushing the cuttig edge forward until all of the skin is removed. For salmon, trout, char, and whitefish, skinning isn't necessary.
Part of wht frightens people is the idea of cutting themselves. Gloves can be purchased that are designed to protect against cuts. They also make it easier to hold the slippery fish.

I hope this helps.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
I see fish cakes in your future. :giggle:

It can be tricky depending on the species, no doubt about that but maybe pick one kind of fish for the time being, like salmon for example, which consequently is probably the easiest fish to fillet and if possible get instruction at the beginning from someone in the family or friends that are fishermen or a local fish monger that might offer to show you.
 
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