Fish Filleting Instructions

Knowing how to fillet a fish is a skill every good cook should posses.

The easiest way to learn to fillet a fish is from the head to the tail. When you fillet a fish you are essentially skinning the meat off of the bone. If done properly the result should be a boneless fish. Cooking a fillet is much simpler than cooking a whole fish, not to mention easier to eat. With all the bones removed you can eat the fish in sandwiches or dice it up and add it to other dishes without the worry of biting into a bone.

Things You'll Need

• Knife
• Cutting board

Instructions

1. Prep your fish by washing it thoroughly before you being to fillet it.

2. Find the soft spot near the fishes gill. Hold the fish's head and angle the knife towards the tail and cut down the backbone just behind the gill plate of the fish. Be careful not to cut in to the stomach.

3. Slide the knife through the cut until it passes from the head of the fish out to the opposite side of the fish.

4. Use a very light sawing motion to slice the meat from the backbone towards the tail of the fish. Don't separate the meat from the bone just yet, leave it intact for now and flip the fish over.

5. Cut the second fillet in the same manner. Then remove both fillets and discard the bones.

6. Pinch the skin at the tail and slide your knife in between the meat and the skin, cut three to four inches. Keep the fish in place by placing your finger on the skin that you have already separated from the meat and then cut the meat from the skin.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a sharp knife when filleting your fish. Sharpen it if you need to before you begin.

References

• Ohio Department of Resources: Filleting Fish