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 Oceanic fish is sold only frozen, whole or gutted, the so-called carcass and fillets. In the industry, only fresh, good-quality fish is frozen.
Thawing frozen fish
When thawed correctly, frozen fish retains almost all the qualities of chilled fish. The fish should be thawed in this way: pour cold water and add salt (10 g per 1 liter of water). With this method, the fish will only partially lose minerals. Salt is added in order to reduce the difference in the concentration of solutions contained in fish and in water - in this case, less nutrients will dissolve. For 1 kg of fish, 1.5-2 liters of water is enough.
In no case should the fish be thawed in warm water, since the denaturation of proteins will occur, that is, the water is squeezed out, the loss of valuable nutrients, the fish itself will become flabby. The finished products from such fish are not tasty.
The fish must be straightened before thawing in order to retain the highest percentage of water contained in it. When thawing in water, the weight of the fish increases by 10-20%, depending on the breed.
If the fish is thawed in the air, then the scales will quickly dry out, after which it will be difficult to separate it.
It is not recommended to re-freeze the fish, as it becomes flabby, tasteless. This greatly impairs its taste.
Thawing fillets
Sea fish in fill
The industry is releasing fish fillets in increasing quantities, as they are in great demand from buyers.
Unlike whole fish, fish fillets are thawed only in the air, at room temperature. When fillets are thawed in water, there is a large loss of nutrients. Fillets should be thawed no earlier than 40-50 minutes before heat treatment. It is not recommended to bring the fillet to complete thawing, so that a lot of juice does not flow out, otherwise the taste of the finished dish will deteriorate significantly.
The absence of food waste in the fillet (i.e., heads, fins, bones), especially rich in substances (defective collagen protein), makes it difficult to prepare aspic from it.
Note. During the initial processing, the fish should be thoroughly washed. It must be said that under normal terms and temperature conditions of heat treatment, complete neutralization of the product is achieved only if sanitary and hygienic requirements are strictly observed at all stages of primary processing.
Removing fish scales
To clean the fish from scales, obliquely (at an angle of 45 °) put a cutting board in the shell, put the fish on it upside down, holding the tail fin. Begin to clean with a scraper or float from the tail fin to the head.
If the fish has a spiny dorsal fin, it must be removed before cleaning. To do this, put the fish sideways on a cutting board, with the tail fin facing you, and with the dorsal fin to the right; make two cuts along the dorsal fin (first under the fin, and then above the fin), starting from the head, cut through the flesh to the rib bones; then the end of the dorsal fin is pressed against the board with a knife and the fish is pulled by the caudal fin to the left.
Some fish species are poorly scaled. In this case, the fish should be immersed in boiling water for 20-30 seconds. It is impossible to keep the fish in boiling water for longer, since during cleaning the skin will come off along with the scales.
Note. Fish scales can be used to make jelly.
Gutting fish
After removing scales and removing the dorsal fin, the fish is gutted.To do this, put it on the board with the head away from you, hold it by the tail fin and cut the abdomen with a middle knife from the anus to the head; remove the insides, and from the head of the gills. Then the fish is thoroughly washed.
In fish of larger sizes, the abdomen is not cut, but the head and with it the entrails are removed. To do this, an incision is made near the gill covers on both sides, and then the vertebral bone is cut through and the head is removed, and with it the insides. The fish is then washed to remove any debris from the viscera, the dark film covering the vertebral bone and abdomen, and the swim bladder.
After this, the pectoral and anal fins should be chopped off. The fish processed in this way can be used for frying as a whole.
Filletting fish with skin, vertebral bones and rib bones
Large fish weighing more than 1 kg are cut into fillets with vertebral and rib bones and skin - for more convenient cutting of semi-finished products and uniform heat treatment.
Seabass, Branzino, SeabassFirst, the dorsal fin of the fish is removed, the scales are removed, the head is removed, the remaining fins are chopped off, and then the abdomen is cut, the entrails are removed and the fish is washed. Then the fish is placed on a cutting board with its back to itself so that the caudal fin is under the left hand, and the flesh with costal bones is cut along the vertebral bone from the head to the caudal fin. The other fillet remains with the vertebral bone.
Filletting fish with skin and rib bones
Place the fish fillet with the vertebral bone skin facing up and the tail fin under the left hand. Remove the vertebral bone by cutting through the fish flesh and rib bones from the head to the tail.
Filleting fish with skin
There are two ways to cut fish into fillets with skin:
1. Put the fillet with rib bones on a cutting board skin side down, tail towards you, and, holding the rib bones, cut them, starting from the thickened part.
2. Place the fish with its back facing you, head under the left hand and make incisions under the pectoral fin. Turn the tail fin towards you, put it on the abdomen, make incisions along the dorsal fin, first on the left side of the fin, and then on the right, and, pressing the end of the dorsal fin against the board with a knife, pull the fish by the tail fin. Turn the fish towards you with its belly, trim off the pectoral fin, sever the vertebral bone, remove the head. Gut by cutting the abdomen from head to anus, and rinse. Put the carcass on the board with the belly, tail fin towards you, carefully cut the flesh from the vertebral and costal bones, from top to bottom from one side and the other, starting from the head and leading the knife to the tail fin. After that, cut off the pectoral and anal fins. This method leaves less waste.
Cutting fish into clean fillets
The fish is cut into clean fillets in the same way as on fillets with skin, but they are not previously cleaned of scales, so that the skin does not break when separating the pulp. The skin, together with the scales, is removed from the cut fillet. To do this, put the fillet skin down on a cutting board, take the tail part in the left hand and begin to separate the fillet from the skin with the right hand with a knife, retreating from the edge of 1 cm. The skin is held by lifting it from the board and sipping from right to left.
Salted sea bass
Cutting fish for stuffing with a whole carcass
Peel the fish from the scales without damaging the skin, and rinse well from the mucus covering the fish. If the fish has a spiny dorsal fin, it should be removed before the scales are removed. Put the fish sideways on a cutting board, with the tail fin facing you, and the dorsal fin to the right, and make an incision in the flesh of the fish first down along the dorsal fin, starting from the head and cutting through to the rib bones, and then up along the dorsal fin, starting from the head and cutting through to rib bones. Pressing the end of the dorsal fin with a knife to the board, pull the fish by the tail fin to the left. Remove the gills from the head.Then put the fish on the belly, with the tail fin facing you, carefully cut the flesh of the fish from the vertebral and rib bones from top to bottom, without cutting through the abdomen and skin. Then break the vertebral bone at the head and caudal fin and remove it along with the viscera through the incision in the back. Remove eyes, chop off pectoral and anal fins. Rinse the fish well, then cut off the flesh, but not from the skin itself, but stepping back 0.5 cm from it. Prepare cutlet mass from the pulp. If the skin is damaged, it should be sutured. The carcass treated in this way is then filled with minced meat.
Bogomolova T., Krasheninnikova A., "Oceanic fish in home nutrition"
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