Say hello to the nice people, Charlie...

When handling fish, salt or fresh water, be careful that the spines in the fins do not hurt you. Some fish have poison that gets injected through the spines, like the Rock Fish. They are slippery, too, but if you hold them down by the tail, they are less likely to flop around as much.

Keep a firm hold on the fish. Use a towel if you need to.

Check to see if the gills are red. If the fish is still flopping around, it isn't as much of a concern, but if you have caught fish several hours earlier, or get a whole fish from someone else, make sure the gills are an well oxegenated red. Brown or grey indicate that the fish has been dead for at least 12 hours, and it might be more.

If you see a good color in the gills, it is time to cut the head off. Push the knife into the gills and then down to the cutting board. This is the back of the fish's skull and lets you get as much meat for the fillet as possible. Be aware that the fish, if alive, will keep flopping for several more minutes after the head is cut off, and the head will try to suck in water. Be warned.

It may take a few tries to get through the spine of the fish.

As you go along cleaning the fish, keep what you discard. A ziplock is good if you are to use the heads and tails in a stock later.

Take your knife, I used two sizes for the entire process, and pierce the belly. It should have a soft spot forward of where it excretes. Go in through the soft spot and out through where the head used to be. Cut along the belly. Try to do this and all cutting away from you, though sometimes that is impossible.

You will have fish guts all over the place now. At least on your knife. Put those to the side carefully. Inspect the inside for obvious parisites like worms before you go any further. If you do not see any, it's time to scale the fish.

By being careful when evicerating the fish, you can find little morsels to include with a stew, or by themselves. The orange/yellow parts in the middle of this Bluegill are actually roe sacs. This was a female, and the roe of most fish is considered a delacasy. Soak the roe in a brine(salt solution) to kill and cure the eggs at the same time, or just add to the stew.

Then there is the liver. If you know that the water is clean, or the fish are especially stocked, go for the liver. Of cource, if you are making fish liver pate, you may have to catch a few more fish.

To make the fillets edible, you will need to get the scales off. Just like a cat hates to be petted backwards, scales can be taken off by scraping from tail to gills. Keep the knife at about a 90degree angle to the fish, and go over it several times. Wash the knife after scraping, as the scales stick to everything and are almost impossible to get off when dried.

The way I do fillets, even with small fish, is to start by running the knife down the back on one side of the fin. Go gently. Keep checking to see if the knife has hit bone. Trim off the tail when you get to it. You may find that when you get to the belly area that there isn't as much meat. There is some, but don't sweat it. Do not pull the fillet from the bone as it will tear the meat. Unlike the structure of red meat, fish meat falls appart easilly raw.

You may have to trim out a few bones or a fin. Check for stray scales. Check the fillet over carfully to see if there are any bones. Pull out any that you can find. Pliers are good for that.

With the fillets done, I went to the kitchen.

I sprinkled a bit of salt on the fillets and let them sit while I cleaned up the fish guts. The heads and tails I put into a bag and into the freezer for stock, later. I had help with the innards...

 

Rinsing the fillets with cold water washed them of the salt, and any lingering scales(and I mean lingering). I poached, read boiled for a short time, the fillets in a rapidly boiling pot of water with peppercorns, salt and allspice seeds.

Served with balsamic vinegar and lemonjuice.

Yum

Back to Recipes