Cleaning and Preparing Fresh Fish

Your cleaver is fine for the preparation of fresh fish for cooking. To scale a fish, hold the cleaver with the blade at about a 45-degree angle to the side of the fish, against the grain of the scales. Move the blade from the tail toward the head and the scales will come off readily.

Use the cleaver to cut the body of the fish along the stomach line. Remove intestines and discard. This interior cleaning can also be done with the cleaver blade.

With kitchen shears, cut the tendons connecting the gills to the head and remove them.