So TWW, I just put a whole fish in the oven and in 30 minutes it will be out in all its fishy glory ... but I don't know what to do with it!! I've never eaten fish that wasn't already in filet form. So I have no idea how to take out the bones or take the fish apart! Any good tutorials or videos on youtube of how to do this?? Thanks!

3/24/2011 6:57:23 PM

PS ... it's Tilapia

3/24/2011 6:59:07 PM

i tried this once

it was fairly disastrous

3/24/2011 7:03:59 PM

did you gut it?

the only bones will be the ribcage that surround the gut cavity and the backbone in the middle of the two fillets. just pull the skin back off the meat and then eat the meat off that side down to the backbone (watch out for the ribcage). then flip it over and repeat on the other side.

[Edited on March 24, 2011 at 7:07 PM. Reason : afd]

3/24/2011 7:05:10 PM

it came pre-gutted (I think ... there was a hole in the bottom with no guts) but I had to take out the gills

3/24/2011 7:06:07 PM

Did you see the movie Airplane?

3/24/2011 7:07:11 PM

really if you just start poking around with a fork i think you'll figure it out. i don't like to eat the skin.

3/24/2011 7:07:56 PM

Eat it with chopsticks. Those buggers are perfect for pulling off the flesh from the bones

3/24/2011 7:09:05 PM

OK thanks!!! crisis averted! I should've known this man would help me!!

3/24/2011 7:09:13 PM

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-eat-fish-on-the-bone

Come on nerdchick i know you know google/youtube!

3/24/2011 7:10:32 PM

this seems to be a pretty good description of what to do

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/318997

Quote :

" Make a vertical cut behind the fish's head, but only half way through. Make a similar cut just in front of the tail. Now make a horizontal cut down the center of that side from behind the head to the tail. Using your knife, scrape the flesh upward from the cut and out onto your plate; repeat downwards. You should then be able to remove the backbone and small bones by lifting them out from the tail end. The meat on the other side will be available then; if not, turn fish over and make the same cuts on the other side. Remove any small bones remaining, and put the head, bones, skin and tail on another plate. Enjoy your fish!"

3/24/2011 7:11:24 PM

you people need some NRR life skills training

3/24/2011 7:14:36 PM

you should make a thread

3/24/2011 7:21:46 PM

i should teach a hands-on class

3/24/2011 7:22:21 PM

wish i knew how to prepare a mean Mahi Mahi ... fish that tastes like meat!

3/24/2011 7:25:06 PM

maybe i'll make a tutorial with pics on how to clean fish

how to clean a squirrel would be way more cool if you've never seen it done, though

3/24/2011 7:29:17 PM

future reference, wrap that bitch up in foil with butter, old bay, shallots, garlic etc before baking. Open, dump, drizzle, profit.

ccccomma breaker.

future reference, filet that bitch.

[Edited on March 24, 2011 at 7:32 PM. Reason : .]

3/24/2011 7:29:51 PM

What's awesome is when you stuff the cavity with lemongrass, garlic, ginger, etc. Soooooooooo good

3/24/2011 7:38:46 PM

what's awesome is when you ditch that shitty african algae sucker and catch you a tasty flounder, clean it while it's still flopping, and bread it and throw it in some grease.

3/24/2011 7:41:39 PM

:add to my topics:

3/24/2011 7:53:00 PM

^^ Who said I was talking about tilapia That's what I usually do with snapper.

3/24/2011 7:54:31 PM

who said i was talking to you?



IT AIN'T ABOUT YOOOOOUUUUUUUUU



[Edited on March 24, 2011 at 7:55 PM. Reason : adsf]

3/24/2011 7:54:53 PM

My my someone is ornery tonight

3/24/2011 7:56:00 PM

[Edited on March 24, 2011 at 7:57 PM. Reason : i like it done your way too]

3/24/2011 7:56:36 PM

hahaha

Another way I've come to enjoy is taking a lighter tasting mackeral, salting it and grilling it. Yummy

3/24/2011 8:08:36 PM

it was delicious!!! thanks TWW!! I'm making stock with the heads right now

I'm going to do this more often. I bought it from a lady who sells fish out of her truck. She also has "spot" but it's not gutted so I was scared maybe next time I can try that!

3/24/2011 8:27:51 PM

Ooh, where does she park?

I should stop at Earp's sometime. It's on my way home but I've never been. What is wrong with me?

3/24/2011 8:34:18 PM

Call J G WENTWORTH

877-FISH-NOW!

3/24/2011 8:35:12 PM

ate an ENTIRE horse

3/24/2011 8:35:36 PM

spammed an ENTIRE forum

3/24/2011 8:44:50 PM

I cannot eat fish like this. I'm not a big seafood eater to begin with, but I just can't deal with it being on my plate with a head, fins, and a tail, looking like a fish.

When I was in Peru, I wanted to try all the local cuisine. Alpaca was pretty good, and I wanted to try cuy (guinea pig), but I never saw it on the menu except as a whole animal, roasted and served on a plate. Not my thing.

3/24/2011 9:01:36 PM

sorry wolfpackgrrr I live in Charleston!!

yeah I was originally nervous about eating fish with eyes looking at me But as a food philosopher, I want to get used to the fact that my food actually came from an animal ... eyeballs and all

3/24/2011 9:16:19 PM

Quote :

"spammed an ENTIRE forum"

you don't add shit but trolling, negativity, and bitching

3/24/2011 9:17:10 PM

Quote :

" I wanted to try cuy (guinea pig), but I never saw it on the menu except as a whole animal, roasted and served on a plate"

that's the only way i've ever seen it prepared.

but seriously, guinea pigs are a wonderful cheap protein source.

3/24/2011 9:45:00 PM

"I've got a fish cooking in the oven..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRSYoZcgYB0&NR=1#t=1m35s

3/24/2011 9:46:09 PM

3/24/2011 9:51:49 PM

spots are one of my favorite fish to eat. they are excellent when breaded and fried. they are very easy to clean. don't be skurred.

3/25/2011 7:31:08 AM

here's how i clean a spot (or most any fish that i don't need to skin). all you really need is a good sharp fillet knife.

1. scrape off the scales. you can use a special fish scaler or just use the back of your knife. get both sides and the belly. scale right up to the gill plates. be sure you get them all. pay close attention around fins and right on down the tail. rinse the fish off after you scale it.

2. cut off the head. just lay the fish on its side and lay the knife blade in a line from just behind the fish's head down to just behind the pectoral fin (http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/212_fall2009.web/Potter_Marisa/neptuno-submarine-fish-fins.jpg). cut all the way down through the entire fish. some people bring this cut on back behind the pelvic fin, but i find that wastes a lot of meat on some species. cut behind the pectoral and then trim off the pelvic if you want it gone.

3. gut the fish. when you cut off the head, you exposed the front of the gut cavity. run your knife point up in the cut cavity and split the belly open. then just reach in and pull out all the guts. this is when you need to pick out the roe (if your fish has any in her) if you intend to eat it. i like it. wash the cavity out really good. most fish will have a membrane separating the meat from the gut cavity. pull as much of this out as possible and rinse up under it well. usually there's blood up in there.

4. cut out the butthole. find the fish's asshole down near the anal fin and make 2 small cuts to form a triangle and remove it. idk if most folks do this or not, but that's what my dad and grandaddy taught me so i keep doing it.

at this point, all you need to do is rinse it off real good and make sure you didn't miss any scales and it's ready to cook however you like. there are other optional steps that i sometimes take, depending on the type and/or size of fish. you can use scissors to snip off the remaining fins. you can cut the tail off, but on smaller fish that i'm frying (like spots) i like to leave it and eat it. it'll get really crispy if you fry the fish. if your fish is on the large size (very large spots, sea trout, etc.), you can fillet it. this will help the inside get done before the outside burns. if you're filleting both sides, then you can disregard the head removal and gutting steps and just let your knife follow the backbone from head to tail and fillet the meat off. i think filleting both sides is wasteful and i really like the meat around the backbone, so what i'll do is clean it just like i said above and then only fillet off one side. so now i have a fillet and a "fillet + backbone".

if you want to freeze some fish, salt the pieces a little on the heavy side, place them in a freezer bag, and run enough water in the bag to cover the fillets. then place the bag in a square pan so the bag will freeze in a square shape. when you thaw them out for cooking, just rinse the pieces off and then season however you want. for some reason freezing them with the salt makes them taste better.

[Edited on March 25, 2011 at 7:57 AM. Reason : master that and then maybe one day you can tackle the mysterious flounder]

3/25/2011 7:54:06 AM

nerdchick, you cool

3/25/2011 8:54:04 AM

^^ What about the carp or catfish?

3/25/2011 8:57:04 AM

Lol yeah I used to only be able to eat fillets, etc. Then at my last job I was forced to eat crap like this


and got over my eyeball aversion lol.

3/25/2011 9:18:42 AM

^^ For catfish, you dig a hole, throw the fish in, and toss in a couple kernels of corn. In a month or two, you'll have some yummy corn.

3/25/2011 12:07:27 PM

NRR has got it all wrong. The asshole's the best part.

3/25/2011 12:09:17 PM

As expected, NRR preaching and showing off in any thread related to fish/fishing/redneckery.

3/25/2011 12:25:20 PM

when i fillet its pretty simple

-i first cut up the ass towards the tail right along the back bone
-then i cut in right behind the tailback up towards the head along the backbone and along the dorsal spines, cut all the way to the operculum and then i cut down from the back to the belly it forms a fillet u can just lift it off
-the visceral cavity is just sitting there, intact and unbroken, i pull that shit out
-flip the fish over and do the same thing except im not trying to cut along the dorsal spines because it doesnt matter, and then i cut to the operculum and cut down the back to the belly to release the fillet
-I then make sure i pull the ribs out of the fish fillets, i use a pair of tongs and i pull each one out individually, the tongs help get a good grip on them and torque for the pull
-I then wash off all the membranes that surrounded the visceral cavity, and wash out all the blood that maybe in the flesh.
-Afterwards ill scale the fish as the water is running, then ill wrap the fillets in wet newspaper til im ready to use them.


with catfish i do not remove skin i love the skin, i also like to crackle on the bones of fried fish so i leave the tail and the fins on my fillets, aside from the pectoral fins as they should be cut off and left with the head and gills

[Edited on March 25, 2011 at 12:29 PM. Reason : d]

3/25/2011 12:29:07 PM

thanks!!! maybe I'll try a spot for dinner tonight! PS ... is it OK to clean the fish in a kitchen sink? putting the guts/scales in the garbage disposal?

3/25/2011 1:04:53 PM

i wouldnt put them in a garbage disposal id bag em up, tie it tight and put it out of the house asap

[Edited on March 25, 2011 at 1:07 PM. Reason : scales dont matter]

3/25/2011 1:07:18 PM

It won't harm your sink but your house will stink to high heaven lol

3/25/2011 1:47:17 PM

Success!! I bought 2 spot from the fish truck, total cost $3.15. I fried them and they were very tasty, but a bit greasy for my taste. Maybe I'll roast them next time. I don't think I cooked it all the way through! it started burning on the outside so I just ate around the pink part

3/25/2011 3:11:41 PM

I always feel guilty and embarrassed when I mutilate animal carcasses like that. But they taste good so I keep doing it.

3/25/2011 3:13:55 PM