Delicious UK - (01)January 2020

HOW TO FILLET A WHOLE SEA BASS

1 2 3

4 5 6

Dauntedbyfishprep?Thisnewseriesisdesigned

toboostyourconfidence.CJJackson(left)isthe

ShellfishUKambassadorandprincipalofThe

SeafoodSchoolatBillingsgate(seafoodtraining.

org)wheresheteacheshowtoprepareandcook

fish.Youcanusethismonth’stechniqueforany

similarshapedfish(suchastrout,breamand

mackerel).Or,if youwanttocooka whole sea

bass, see p35 for Gill Meller’s recipe.

BUILD YOUR SEAFOOD SKILLS

1

Usingkitchenscissors,snipoff

allthefinsdowntothebody–

cutfromthetailtowardsthehead.

2

Usinga fishscalerorbackof

theknife(againfromtailto

head),scrapeoffallthescales.You

mightwanttodothisina sinkorbag

astheywillflyoffinalldirections.

3

Usinga sharpfilletingknife

(thesehavea flexibleblade)

cutbehindthegills/backof the

head down to the bone.

4

Holdthebellywithonehand.

Cutdownthebackofthefish

justabovethespineusingthefirst

cutyou’vemadeasa guide.Keepthe

bladetouchingthebonesandcutthe

filletawayasfarasthebackbone.

5

Nearthetailend,resttheblade

onthebackboneandpushthe

pointouttheothersideofthefish.

Cuttowardsthetailtofreetheend

ofthefillet.Finishcuttingalong the

belly to lift away the fillet.

6

Repeatsteps3-5ontheother

sidetogive2 fillets.Discardthe

headandbonesorpulloutand

discardtheguts,thenusetomake

fishstock.Useyoufingertipstofind

thesmallpin-boneslocatedinthe

topthirdofeachfillet.Removeby

pullingthebonesoutinthedirection

ofgrowthusingfishtweezers.

TOCOOKBrushthefilletswithoiland

seasonalloverwithsaltandpepper.

Grill for 3-4 minutes, skin-side up.

PHOTOGRAPHS AND ILLUSTRATIONS: ANDRE PATTENDEN, DAVID CHARBIT, ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES