How to Skin an Eel

Whether its for sport or emergency, you can quickly skin an eel to prepare for cooking. After catching and gutting the eel, follow these steps to skin it.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Hang the eel immediately after killing and gutting by poking a sturdy stick through the eel's gills and resting it on 2 sticks that are already in the ground, forked at the top. This support must be stable. If it wobbles, force the sticks deeper into the ground.
2. Hold onto the eel below the head using a cloth to keep a tight grip. The longer you wait after the eel's death, the more slippery it becomes.
3. Cut width-wise around the head to separate the skin from the eel's flesh.
4. Pull the top layer of skin downward, using the cloth to keep it from slipping out of your hands.
5. Remove the stick from the eel's gills once the skin has been discarded. Place the eel on a flat surface to begin cutting.
6. Cut off the head and tip of the tail of the eel.
7. Slice the eel in half lengthwise by running the knife parallel to the surface the eel is lying on. Depending on if you want to eat the eel off or on the bone, you can choose to remove the backbone by knife or by hand, or keep it in tact to retain as much flavor as possible.