Tips for cleaning fish

Cleaning and filleting the fish is simple. Follow us in this process step by step.

When the fish are less than 1 kilo, it is preferable not to fillet them and cook them whole. From 1 kilo it is already a fish from which we can extract a good fillet.

1. Place the fish on a board to work comfortably. Scrape the skin of the fish, with the dull side of the knife, to remove the scales, do it in the direction from the tail towards the head of the fish, this will make us go in the opposite direction to the direction of the scales and they will come off easily . Check the entire fish, running your hand from the tail to the head, and scrape the areas where you still feel scales until the entire surface is free of them. Rinse the fish with water and clean it of scales.
2. Make an incision at the level of its lower belly (anal hole of the fish) and cut towards the head to the height below the mouth. This incision will expose the fish's viscera and gills. Remove them, leaving the abdominal cavity of the fish empty. Clean with plenty of water.
3. Place the fish back on the board and make a cut behind the head until you feel the backbone. Do not cut it but deepen the cut until you touch it. When the knife is over the bone, turn it toward the tail of the fish and continue cutting to the tail, following the natural line of the spine.
4. Cut, close to the spine up to the tail, while the cut is being made. Get to the tail but not complete the cut. Let the skin of the fish remain attached to the fish with the first fillet.
5. Firmly hold the tail end of the fish, insert the knife. Separate the skin from the meat and continue cutting until all the skin is off and the fillet is free. Turn the fish over and cut the skin from the other side.
6. Although the fillet is ready, it may have some bones on the edge. To remove them, use the knife and follow the contour of the fish, checking it and removing any small bones and/or spines that remain.
7. At the end you will have the head of the fish with the backbone that will be used to make a good fish broth.
8. Fish fillets, well washed, can be frozen in a plastic bag or in a closed container. 
9. White meat fish fillets last 2 to 3 months frozen without losing their texture or flavor. Those with dark meat, including trout, should not be frozen for more than 2 months as their flavor is lost and they become rancid.