Buzz
Cleaning and gutting fish is an essential skill for anyone aiming to cook whole fish. Since fish bones and intestines are inedible, you must carefully remove them using a knife. To prepare fish, you'll need a clean workspace, a sink or water source, and a sharp filleting knife. With a bit of patience and a few skilled cuts, you'll have fresh fish fillets ready in no time!
Steps
Kill and scale the fish
Stun and kill the fish if it's still alive. If the fish is freshly caught, you'll need to hold it steady and kill it before cleaning and gutting. Use your non-dominant hand to hold the fish's midsection on a stable surface. Use a mallet or a blunt object to stun the fish by hitting its head, then use a skewer or a small knife to pierce its brain by inserting it behind the eyes, slightly above them.
- Move the skewer or knife inside the fish's head to ensure the brain is pierced.
- While you can stun the fish multiple times with a blunt object, piercing the brain is considered the most humane method.
Wash the fish with cold water. Place the fish in a sink or on a cleaning table, turn on cold water, and use both hands to scrub the fish's body. Rinse off slime, dirt, and debris from the scales to prevent foreign particles from entering the fish's flesh during gutting.
- If using a cleaning table, remember to collect scraps and fish guts in a grinder and clean up thoroughly afterward.
- You can wear rubber gloves to keep your hands clean while working.
Remove the fish fins. Although optional, cutting off the fins makes the remaining steps easier. Use your non-dominant hand to hold the fin and pull it straight up. Place the knife blade at the base of the fin and slice it off. Remove all large fins that you think might hinder the gutting process.
- Depending on the fish species, dorsal fins can be long and tricky to remove. Cut small sections along the fin's length for easier handling.
- While any sharp knife can be used, a flexible fillet knife is preferable as its thin blade won't damage the fish's flesh.
Scale the fish using the back of the knife. Place the fish in a spacious sink or on a cleaning table. Hold the tail with your non-dominant hand and lift it slightly so the fish's body is at a 45-degree angle. Firmly grip the knife with your dominant hand and scale the fish using long, strong strokes with the knife's spine. Start from the tail and work your way toward the head. Flip the fish and repeat on the other side.
- Rinse the fish after scaling to ensure loose scales don't get into the fish's belly.
- If preferred, you can scale the fish after gutting.
Tip: For fish with thick skin, use the sharp edge of the knife to scale, but be careful not to cut into the flesh.
Insert the knife tip into the fish's vent. Place the fish belly-up on a cutting board. Tilt the fish at a 45-degree angle so the head faces away from you. Position the knife blade toward the head and make a shallow cut into the fish's anus, about 2.5–5 cm deep, depending on the fish's size.
- The vent is located at the lowest part of the fish's belly.
- The anus is a small hole near the base of the tail, often a different color from the surrounding area.
Slice the fish's belly toward the gills. Hold the knife firmly and make upward cuts of about 1.5 cm each as you slice along the belly. Continue cutting until you are about 2.5–5 cm away from the fish's mouth.
- Avoid cutting too deep into the belly. Accidentally piercing the intestines will make the contents messy and slippery.
- You can cut through the throat and gills if you plan to remove the fish's head.
Remove the fish's innards
Open the fish's belly and remove the internal organs. Carefully avoid tearing the flesh as you spread the belly open to create a 5–15 cm gap. Insert your hand near the head, use your thumb and index finger to grasp the organs attached to the head, and gently pull them out. Move your hand toward the tail, slowly extracting the intestines and other organs.
- Check the abdominal cavity for any remaining organs and remove them.
- Dispose of the innards in a trash bin. If using a cleaning table, you can discard them in a grinder for processing.
Tip: The fish's liver, gills, and intestines are relatively easy to remove without much resistance, and you won't need to use a knife to cut anything.
Scrape out the fish's kidney if present. Some fish have a small kidney located along the spine near the middle. Look along the spine for a small, bean-shaped organ. If the fish has a kidney, use a spoon to scrape it out.
Rinse the fish under cold water to clean the abdominal cavity. Hold the fish belly-up in the sink or on a cleaning table. Turn on the cold water and open the fish's belly. Let the water flow through the cavity while using your hand or a spoon to scrub inside, removing any remaining organ fragments and cleaning the flesh thoroughly.
- Rinse the fish for at least 1 minute to ensure the entire cavity is clean.
Fillet the fish
Remove the fish's head if you don't plan to use it. Place the fish on a cutting board. Locate the gills and position the knife about 2.5–5 cm behind them. Angle the blade downward and tilt it slightly toward the head. Hold the fish firmly with your non-dominant hand and make a diagonal cut at about a 15-degree angle toward the spine. Flip the fish and repeat on the other side.
- If the head doesn't come off after two cuts, grip it firmly and twist to detach it.
- Some fish, like salmon, are often cooked with the head intact.
Tip: You can cut straight down behind the gills if preferred, but this may result in losing some lean meat. There's a significant amount of flesh beneath the gills, so a diagonal cut helps retain this portion.
Cut the fish crosswise through the spine into sections. Once the head is removed, position the knife perpendicular to the fish's spine. Starting about 5–8 cm from the head, make a straight cut until the section separates.
- Continue cutting the fish into 5–8 cm thick sections until the entire fish is portioned.
- The difference between a fish steak and a fillet is the presence of bones. Steaks are cut through the spine and retain bones, while fillets are boneless.
Turn the fish's back toward you and cut above the spine to fillet the fish. Place your finger on the knife's spine, insert the tip through the fish's back, just above the spine. Slide the blade sideways toward the tail, gradually moving along the fish's length while keeping the blade parallel to the spine. Maintain the knife about 0.3–1 cm above the spine, depending on the fish.
- You may need to lean forward slightly to find the correct cutting angle.
- Use your non-dominant thumb to hold the edge of the exposed flesh after the first cut, peeling the skin back to make slicing easier.
Lift the fillet to separate it from the fish. Use your non-dominant hand to lift the fillet at a 35–45 degree angle. Make small cuts to sever any connective tissue beneath the fillet, detaching it completely. Set the fillet aside and repeat the process on the other side.
- If desired, you can notch around any bones encountered. However, depending on the fish species and size, you may prefer to do this during cooking to avoid losing meat.
- After flipping the fish, rotate it so the back faces you. For the second fillet, start from the tail and slice toward the head.
- You can remove the thin skin from the fillet if preferred, though many recipes call for leaving the skin on during cooking.
What you'll need
- Mallet or a blunt object
- Sink or cleaning table
- Rubber gloves (optional)
- Skewer
- Small knife
- Fillet knife
- Cleaver or sectioning knife
- Spoon
