Somehow, we manage to catch trout fish or buy them from bazaars, but we often fail to flatten this delicate fish. It comes in both small and large sizes, but most enthusiasts prefer small fillets because they are relatively easy to cook. This delicious fish is easier to clean, fillet and chop than salmon, catfish, perch, and walleyes etc. Moverover, More important than a durable fillet knife is that you know how to fillet trout.
If you are having trouble flatten trout fish, follow the guidelines below. I have been working to fillet dozens of trout fish on a daily basis for the past ten years. From this experience, I will explain to you in simple words how to prepare each ingredient of trout fish very quickly and precisely.
Clean Up Your Trout
1-Remove Skin With Scalar. First scrape the fish on both sides with the help of a scalar. This process takes a little bit of time and will be completed in a few minutes. If you do not have a scaler, you can do this operation by turning your knife upside down. Now you can see how easy it is to descale the trout.
2- Separate the fish’s gills from its jaw. This process is quite easy. It doesn’t matter if you are right-handed or left-handed, place your thumb on one side of the fish’s gills and use a sharp fillet knife to cut the jaw and body connecting part. There is also a risk of cutting your hand from this process, so be careful.
3- Cut up the trout from anus to gills. If you are at home, lay the fish on a cutting board in the kitchen and if you are outside, place it on a straight rock. Insert the tip of the knife into the hole near the tail and start cutting the abdomen. When you are about to reach the throat, apply light pressure on the fish with your thumb so that the last part of the skin is cut off.
4- Remove the Entrails. After chopping the trout in the middle, the next step is to remove the entrails. So Pull the gills down towards the tail to remove all of the trout’s entrails. By doing this all the unnecessary material came out of the stomach of the trout. Your hands will slip repeatedly during this process so hold the entrails tightly when pulling them.
5- Wash blood clots and clean mud inside your trout. These are blood clots that remain under the intestines that appear after the internal organs have been removed. Use cold water to wash them and scrape off sand, and dirt with your thumbs and fingers. If you do not want to use your hand, you can also rub the mud vein with the help of edges of folk. This vein will be seen near the spine in the trout.
Cutting the Fillets Trout
1- Break the neck. Place the fillet knife on the side for a while and hold the fish in one hand and turn the head backward with the other hand. Doing so will detach the neck from the spinal cord. Now you are not far away, when this delicious dish will be fully ready for cooking.
2-Detached the rib and bones from meat. After breaking the neck, You have to separate the meat from the ribs. Remember that this process has to be done very carefully because there is a possibility of losing the meat. Place the tip of the knife between the ribs and the flesh and start cutting from head to tail. Keep the blade as close to the bones as possible to remove the delicious trout meat accurately. Similarly, repeat this process on the other side of the trout so that the ribs are removed from both sides.
3-Take off the head and upper fins. The next step is to separate the head and fins from the body which is quite easy. Just place the knife into the fillet on the skin above the neck and cut the skin so that the fins and head are separated from the body in a single stroke. If you don’t want to keep them in stock, put them in a waste plastic bag.
4-Take off the dorsal fins. This one is the final step to fillet a trout completely. Place your knife alternately on each dorsal fin and cut them so that all the fins are separated from the skin. Congratulations on the successful filleting trout fish process, So now you can cook and eat this delicious dish to your liking.
How to Debone Cooked Trout
1- Cook the Trout: If you follow this method, you will need to start cooking the trout without removing the bones. The heat will help you peel more easily as the steam loosens the tissue around the spine. And then the bones can be disposed of quickly and easily.
2- Make a Small Cut at the Base of the Tail: If the fish is cooked and ready then start the filleting process, if you don’t know where to start then start from the bottom of the tail as shown in the picture, cut here with a knife. This will separate the bones from the meat.
You should be able to find the best place to separate the spine by following the cut used to gut the trout where it ends at the tail.
3- Lift the Tail Portion while Pulling Down on the Flesh: Using a knife or fork to anchor the trout, pry the tail or tail up and away from the flesh. By doing this, you should be able to remove the bones in one clean motion.
4- Turn the Fish Over and Strip the Other Side: Still holding the tail, flip the fish over. Cut into the meat from the opposite side and peel the tail to remove the spine. Now you’re left with all the meat and no bones, but be sure to watch for stray bones when eating.
Salmon Trout vs Salmon Norway
Fjord trout have skin similar to salmon, which is shiny and silvery in color, although salmon usually have more dark spots near the face. In terms of color, fjord trout is a more florid red-orange than light-skinned salmon.
Norwegian fjord trout is smaller than salmon with smaller fibers in the flesh, resulting in a delicate fish with firmer flesh. Trout store fat differently than other salmonids. Mostly stored in the stomach, making the fish lean and rich in flavor.
Trout Fish Health Benefits
- Being a semi-fatty fish, trout is low in calories. 100 grams of fish contains only 149 calories.
- The lean meat of trout contains 20.77 g/100 g (37% of the RDI) of protein, complete with all essential amino acids in healthy proportions.
- The major benefit is that consuming seafood reduces the risk of heart attack, stroke, obesity and high blood pressure.
- Seafood is low in saturated fat and high in “heart-healthy” polyunsaturated fats, including omega-3 fatty acids.
- All types of trout are good sources of vitamin A, vitamin D and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids.
- In addition to essential vitamins A and D, trout contains niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin E, vitamin B12, thiamine and riboflavin.
- Trouts are also a source of minerals including calcium, zinc, potassium, phosphorus and magnesium.
Tools you Need to Fillet a Trout
These are some necessary tools which we use to fillet a trout fish precisely and quickly. There are also some other additional tools but these are unnecessary.
1- Skinning Board
The use of this tool is very common. Most of us use it in the kitchen for fillet fish as well as chopping veggies and cutting fruits also. However, it is thought to be effective in removing the skin and scales of trout and many other fish. If you are thinking of fishing by a lake or pond then this is definitely going to be helpful for you.
2- Durable Fillet Knife
A razor-sharp fillet knife for trout made of solid material is essential for the successful preparation of trout. A knife with a thin flexible blade can make a precise slice of trout making your fileting effortless. A handle with rubber textures is preferable to a wood texture as it does not slip to your hand if you are working in a kitchen for 3 to 4 hours continuously. Always Use the average size of the blade according to the small and large trout fish.
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