Gutting A Fish At Home

Tools And Methods For Preparing Fish

On this page I will explain the process of gutting fish. This is step 2 process of how to clean fish. If you would like a refresher on the previous topics, then you can read the following here below:

• Why Clean A Fish – In this article, I discussed about the topic why clean a fish. I have also discussed about the advantages and disadvantages of preparing a fish at home.
• How To Clean Fish – In this article, I discussed about the tools you need before you start your process to clean a fish and I have also discussed about the size of the fish, the cost and why I chose a big fish.
• How To Scale Fish – In this article, I discussed about the position in which you should hold the salmon fish, the tools to use and also the scaling.

Step 2 : Gutting A Fish

Hmm! Gutting fish is going to be the dirtiest work. Remember in the tools section I mentioned about hand gloves. You may as well use them before preparing to clean a fish.

Well let us continue with the process!

At this stage, it is preferably good to wash the fish in running water to remove the loose scales from the skin. Also clean the chopping board.

Place the fish on the chopping board and run your finger over the body to check that no scales are still stuck on the fish. I am sure you don’t want it to end up in your plate. I wouldn’t!

Now with the pair of kitchen scissors, chip of the end of the tail, the fins from the side and also on the back of the fish.

Now to remove the guts, take the small knife, on the belly, around the midpoint you will find a small whole.

Hold the fish with the tail towards you then pierce a whole and cut the belly moving towards the gills. This can also be done with a pair of scissors.

Now with your hand scrape out the guts from the belly and discard them.

In order to clean the gills, use the pair of scissors to cut open the head and trim the gills out. In the case of softer fish, you can simply remove the gills by pulling on them.

In some cases for some fish, I don’t clean the gills and eyes. One such fish is the Ilish Fish, which is a fresh water fish cultivated in Bangladesh. It is extremely tasty fish but full of bones.

Now under running water thoroughly clean the fish. It is important to do this now as the water is not exposed to the internal part of the body other than the fish abdomen.

This protects the fish from exposure to bacteria and is safer to conserve them in the freezer.

Ok at this stage we have really accomplished the hardest bit of work. Now was gutting fish really hard. I know it seems disgusting but once done, you will feel that satisfaction of doing it yourself.

It is time to move ahead and cut the fish out into desired pieces.

So let us head on to the next section – Step 3 : How To Cut Fish