How to Cut Fresh Sardines

Fresh sardines are packed with flavor and nutrition.

The high omega-3 fatty acid content in fresh sardines makes them an exceptionally healthy food choice, but also causes quick spoilage, so it's important to clean and cut the fish soon after purchase. Prepared properly, fresh sardines provide an inexpensive source of calcium and protein, rich in vitamins D and B12. As a sustainable fish in no danger of extinction, sardines are an environmentally friendly dinner option as well. You can serve sardines broiled, stuffed and baked or grilled.

Things You'll Need

• Cutting board
• Small paring knife

Instructions

1. Choose sardines that have been recently caught, preferably on the same day of your purchase. Ask your local fish provider when the fish were caught to ensure freshness. Select shiny, silver, uncut sardines. Avoid sardines that appear discolored or bruised and smell foul.

2. Rinse each sardine under cold running water. Using your thumbnail, rub along the fish's surface to remove its scales.

3. Grasp the sardine's head and pull it downward to snap it off and remove a portion of the innards. To remove any remaining innards, use the paring knife and slice along the bottom of the sardine, from throat to tail, leaving the tail whole. Pull out the remaining innards by hand and finish rinsing the fish, inside and out.

Tips & Warnings

• For stuffed sardine recipes, leave the sardine sliced, as is, and fill it with stuffing ingredients. To butterfly a sardine, open the fish at the slice and gently pull out the backbone, from head to tail.

• Never freeze sardines, as the freezing process causes rancidity and deteriorates the texture.

References

• The New York Times; No Quotation Marks on These Sardines; Mark Bittman; December 2010
• Calabria From Scratch; Cooking Fresh Sardines; Rosetta Costantino; February 2010