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How to fillet a salmon
| How to fillet salmon intro Picking the right equipment Cutting the first fillet Cutting the second fillet Removing the ribs Trimming the fillet part 1 Trimming the fillet part 2 Removing the pinbones The finished fillet |
| Step 6
– Trimming the fillets, part 2: |
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| See the white
specks I'm pointing at? It's actually little pieces of the backbone that were
trimmed off when I cut this fillet. Almost everyone I know just leaves these
"knuckles" in their fillet, but I prefer to remove them. I think removing them
looks great, and it opens up the fillet a lot more so that any sauces you use
in cooking will soak in better... it's just a minor detail. click picture to enlarge |
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| Start by
straightening out your fillet so the backbone line is in a straight line...
this will help a lot. What you want to do is make a long "V" shaped cut, with
the bottom of the "V" underneath the pieces of bone. Angle your knife at a
45° angle both ways... and carefully cut just to one side of the backbone
line, with your blade angled towards the center of the line, so the tip of the
blade is maybe 1/4" deep in the fish. Cut all the way along the fish, to the
tail. click picture to enlarge |
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| Turn the
knife around and make the second cut just to the other side of the backbone
line, again, all the way down the fish. click picture to enlarge |
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| You should
end up with a long, triangle-shaped piece of scrap meat that has the pieces of
bone on one side. click picture to enlarge |
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| It will
probably still be attached near the tail by a short white piece of gristle. The
white piece will still be attached to the skin. Pull up on this white piece and
trim it from the skin, and trim off whatever white or gray meat you want trim
off near the tail. click picture to enlarge |
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| Come back and
trim off any other fatty pieces near the belly, or any gristle pieces near
where the dorsal and anal fins used to be. click picture to enlarge |
| How to fillet salmon intro Picking the right equipment Cutting the first fillet Cutting the second fillet Removing the ribs Trimming the fillet part 1 Trimming the fillet part 2 Removing the pinbones The finished fillet |