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Filleting Round Fish
Appears in
Published 1991
It is easier to fillet round fish before skinning, giving 1 meaty fillet on each side of the backbone. These can then be skinned (right) and coated and fried or cut into strips for goujons, which are simply small pieces of fried fish.
Check that all the small ‘pin’ bones around the back fins are removed, as these can be annoying to come across when you are eating the fish. Begin by cutting off the head.
- A filleting knife is not necessary but its flexible blade makes neater fillets. Place the fish with its head end away from you and its back towards you. Cut through the backbone down to the tail, keeping the blade as close as possible to the bone.
- Using a gentle sawing motion, starting from the head end, cut the flesh from the fine rib bones. Hold back the freed flesh with one hand and use your other hand to keep the knife’s blade scraping back and forth in a gentle sawing motion against the bones, working as quickly as possible. This filleting technique gets easier the more you practise.
- Turn the fish over and remove the fillet from the other side in the same way. Check both fillets for any stray bones and pull them out with your fingers or tweezers. Skin the fillet (right) if you like. Save the bones for making stock. They can be put in a polythene food bag together with the head and frozen until you wish to make the stock.
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