How to Debone Redfish
For seafood lovers, there's nothing like a freshly caught fish for dinner. Bones, however, are sometimes an annoying part of eating fish. If you want to enjoy a whole fish without the bones, you can debone it, which involves several steps, but is not difficult to do. In particular, redfish is easier to debone than larger types of fish. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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1
Place the redfish on a clean cutting board so that the belly is facing you.
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2
Chop the head off behind the gills with a cleaver as well as the tail, unless you prefer to keep the fish whole.
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3
Make a deep slit into the fish along the entire length of the belly down to the tail.
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4
Remove the fish entrails and guts and rinse the cavity out with running water.
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5
Cut into the slit to separate the flesh from the backbone.
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6
Open the fish up like a book to reveal the bones, then turn over so the skin side is up.
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7
Press your fingers along the backbone to loosen it from the flesh.
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8
Turn the fish back over and lift up the backbone and rib cage in one piece so that it is sticking out of the body cavity. Slice your knife underneath the bones to free it completely from the fish flesh.
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9
Check for any stray bones and remove them with a knife or a pair of tweezers if the bones are really small. Prepare your redfish as planned.
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Tips & Warnings
If you don't want the whole fish, you can fillet by chopping the head and tail off, then cutting cleanly along the backbone on either side of the fish.
References
Resources
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