Filleting Mackerel Yourself

On Sunday evening, I cooked the horse mackerel I had caught myself. They were just the right size after processing the head and belly, so I decided to try filleting them into three pieces. Since I caught quite a few, I wanted to experiment with various methods, like the “belly-back-back-belly” technique. After filleting five or six, I started to get the hang of it, and I managed to fillet them on one side like you’d see at a restaurant. The other side is tricky though (＞＜)ｂ. If you insert the knife from one side, the flesh resists, right? And from the other side, it’s awkward (^^;). I tried reading books on “how to fillet fish,” but just reading doesn’t quite get it across (‘‘）b. But I realized, if you understand the angle to insert the knife, a sharp knife makes all the difference! Without a good understanding, you might end up cutting where you shouldn’t with the wrong angle! While big fish are great to catch, for practice, catching a lot of fish like horse mackerel and working through them might be better. Filleting and cooking them yourself teaches you a lot!

Hibishugyo

2007-03-05