Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Eating and Drinking => Cooking, Storing and Preserving => Topic started by: Bodger on September 04, 2007, 14:38

Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: Bodger on September 04, 2007, 14:38
My mates Fish, Gareth and myself caught these off the rocks the other day.

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f1.jpg)

I got my camera out to record how Fish did the filleting. I reckon that the many photographs that follow should be all that you need to know how to fillet fish in the future.

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f2.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f3.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f4.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f6.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f7.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f8.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f9.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f10.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f11.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f12.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f13.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f14.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f15.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f16.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f17.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f18.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f19.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f20.jpg)


This is how Fish butterfly filleted a mackerel.

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f22.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f23.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f24.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f25.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f26.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f27.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f28.jpg)

(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/f29.jpg)
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: WG. on September 04, 2007, 14:44
Good one.  

#1. looks like a wee cod - or maybe a saithe
#2. a big Herring?
#3. Mackeral
#4. ??
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: catarama on September 04, 2007, 14:50
Very nice.

If I send you a fish and a stamp, can you fillet it and post it back to me?  

Always looks like it's done 6 rounds with the cat by the time I get the bones out.
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: jacnal on September 04, 2007, 15:07
Fish makes it look so easy.

I'll give it a try seeing as I've got some fish from Brixton Market from a friend, lol! Been putting it off since yesterday  :oops: . Was contemplating freezing them and dealing with them at a later date  :shock: .

Cheers Bodger :wink:
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: muntjac on September 04, 2007, 15:29
reckon i better show ya the way i do it i leave the heads on so i get more of a grip twagging school n going down the fish docks certainly made me learn to fillet & skin dogggies n skate
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: Bodger on September 04, 2007, 15:52
Quote from: "whisky_golf"
Good one.  

#1. looks like a wee cod - or maybe a saithe
#2. a big Herring?
#3. Mackeral
#4. ??


Not going to send you shopping WG :lol:

1) A pollack
2) A bass ( must admit that the dorsal spines are a bit hidden )
3) Mackerel
4) a really small pollack that died under anaesthetic  :oops:

PS Munti, no problem with the grip, its always heads off first  :lol:
Title: hmmm
Post by: welsh boyo on September 04, 2007, 16:02
that (1st fish) pollack is a cracking fish size from the shore mate.

But I think the BASS is to small and looks undersize mate.
the legal limit for keeping a bass is 36cm
here a link for size limits in uk waters


http://www.nfsa.org.uk/teamcomp/comp_fest/matchpack/minsizes.htm
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: WG. on September 04, 2007, 16:02
Okay Bodger, I'll stick to gardening but there was no need to call me a pollock!  :wink:
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: Bodger on September 04, 2007, 16:03
No ! :D  You merely dropped one :lol:

A touch of distorted lense on the bass WB :oops:  :oops:  :oops:  Honest :lol:
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: Aunt Sally on September 04, 2007, 21:19
Worzel catches big brown trout on the River Teste and fillets them.  He tells me it is essential to have a really sharp knife, longish thin bladed is best  :!:
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: Bodger on September 05, 2007, 09:23
Size isn't everything Aunt sally but in this case Worzel is absolutey spot on :lol:
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: jacnal on September 05, 2007, 19:20
I tried, it was a mess and I ain't trying again!!! Right now, I'm cooking fish that has a very mangled one amongst them. Ah well...........
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: DD. on September 05, 2007, 19:23
Quote from: "jacnal"
I tried, it was a mess and I ain't trying again!!! Right now, I'm cooking fish that has a very mangled one amongst them. Ah well...........


It helps if it's dead first. They struggle a bit otherwise and you will end up with mangled fish. :lol:
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: jacnal on September 05, 2007, 19:51
They were all dead and had been frozen too!

English is my 3rd language DD. Bear with me! I meant ruined, rather than mutilated, though it IS mutilated :shock: . (Had to look up mangled on dictionary.com just now)  :oops:  . Made fish stock out of the very meaty carcasse and the heads. The carcasse meat will make a soup as well. no waste here!

I do wish I could catch my own fish  :(
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: WG. on September 05, 2007, 19:55
Filleting a fish which has been frozen / thawed would be very difficult.  Much easier done fresh
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: David. on September 17, 2007, 16:07
Quote from: "muntjac"
going down the fish docks certainly made me learn to fillet & skin dogggies n skate


This is how my dogfish (last pack from the freezer) look skinned & ready to cook, which is how I bring them back home:

(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w264/DavidsWine/dogfish.jpg)

Takes me approx. 3 mins per fish using filleting knife, sharp scissors, long nosed pliers and bucket of water. I reckon dogfish taste sweeter than hounds & huss.

Filleting rays (skate) takes me much longer, doesn't look so tidy, and they tend to get given to my in-laws.
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: WG. on September 17, 2007, 16:36
Quote from: "David."
I reckon dogfish taste sweeter than hounds & huss.

 :?:  Lost me there.  Pls explain
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: welsh boyo on September 17, 2007, 17:23
Quote from: "whisky_golf"
Quote from: "David."
I reckon dogfish taste sweeter than hounds & huss.

 :?:  Lost me there.  Pls explain


he means smooth Hounds and bullhuss  2 different species of fish,allthough the huss is just a bigger type of dogfish.
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: David. on September 17, 2007, 17:59
Basically, they're all 'sharks', including 'skate'.
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: muntjac on September 17, 2007, 18:26
and doggy is called rock salmon :roll: knock a nail into a large flat of wood , push the head over the nail head through the mouthand out the skull
flash the top fins and the tail off slide knife into belly going stright thru to other side and pul the knife back to the anus .cut the skin just behind the head attaching a smal piece of skull cartiledge . hold tight between thumb and knife edge and pull back the skin will rool off to the tail in one movment..time 1 min 30 .. or less

 skate is winged  and then ussing a fork.. the old carving forks from long ago are great for this ./rduce points done to 1.1/2 inch  pairs pliers . hold down the skate on the above board with the fork . take the pliers and cut usibng agripping motion the cartiledge where the wing attached to the body, pull back and the skin wil come off in one movement with practice .turn and do the other side.. time 1min 30 or less

fileting cod haddock . 1 min 30 . plaice time 1 min 30. eels 30 secs

 rabbit  gutted to skinned  45 secs
Title: dogfish recipe
Post by: welsh boyo on September 17, 2007, 18:37
The best way to prepare and cook dogfish is to carefully gut and skin them then lay the fillets between two pieces of sandalwood with some garlic and fennel - don't forget to moisten with butter, or for the health concious - olive oil. Season, wrap in foil and cook slowly in a medium oven, or even better in the coals of a barbeque. When the fish is done (about 45 minutes) unwrap carefully and















.....throw the fish away and eat the wood. It's a damn sight better tasting :lol:  :lol:
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: muntjac on September 17, 2007, 18:39
i disagree there whole heartedly it is just cooked wrongly i like to poach it whole with dill and then make a creamy bechemel sauce with fresh parsley with new spuds .. the belly flaps are great . skin them from the belly flap and then flash fry 190 with a egg batter
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: David. on September 17, 2007, 19:09
Quote from: "muntjac"
knock a nail into a large flat of wood


Bit too large for the fishing bag/box, so I use the idiot proof method - cut off head and tail with knife , then slice with knife from anus into belly, use scissors to cut out belly, guts and fins. Dip in bucket of water, then use knife to make a slit just through the skin on both the top and underside of the fish and make a start peeling the skin back feach side from the tail end about 1/2 inch/10mm. Then use the long nosed pliers to grip a loose end of skin and start winding it off towards the front, like using a key on a sardine tin. Repeat for other side. Cut into portions and put into freezer bags. Dead simple once you've seen it done, no skill required.
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: Porffor on June 20, 2008, 18:08
Thanks to Bodger for the link to this thread.. as promised.. i've attmepted it.. a first ever for me..  with 2 rainbow trout :) I can't say i caught them though!

Like Jacnal did I have a lot of fish left on the bones. :lol: BUT still enough to eat for dinner. :) I'm not brave enough to go down the soup route just yet.. but maybe with a bit of practise and some sharper knives i'll get better at filleting. :)
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: Aunt Sally on June 20, 2008, 18:19
You need a very sharp thin bladed knife.

This is the one we use:

(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff221/Aunt__Sally/knife.jpg)
Title: How to Fillet Fish
Post by: Porffor on June 20, 2008, 18:34
Thanks Aunt Sally :) After trying every knife we had (yes lots of washing up) :lol: I'll happily shop for one ;)