Feb 21, 2009

Slice and Dice Your Alaskan Salmon

While most of us just head to the local market to pick up some nice salmon fillets, there are those out there who would like to take it upon themselves to see the whole process through. If someone has caught some lovely wild salmon or has just picked up a whole fish at the store, there is a process when learning how to fillet salmon. The first step in this procedure is making sure you have the right equipment for the job. A good filleting knife is essential and you must make sure it is very sharp. To keep up the sharpness of your filleting knives it is a good idea to pick up sharpeners with various sets of bars depending on what level of sharpness you want.

To start filleting make the first cut behind the gillplate and go straight down. Cut down to the backbone but be sure not to cut through it. Once you have reached the backbone, cut off the lower section of the salmon which is essentially the belly region. With the knife against the backbone turn the knife 90 degrees and begin cutting towards the tail. Guide the knife along the backbone to make sure you get all of the meat in the filet. Once you reach the tail and freed the meat the first fillet is done. Learning how to fillet salmon is multi-step process.

For the second fillet cut behind the gillplate on the other side of the salmon and once again move the knife towards the tail. The backbone should be used as the guide again in order to make sure you get all of the meat possible. When you reach the tail, angle the knife upwards and cut the skin near the tail to free the fillet. Once the fillets have been cut from the salmon it is necessary to get rid of the ribs and bones to make for a more pleasant eating experience. Removing the ribs is possible with some handy knife work as you cut and lift the ribs out. After this there remains only one final part in successfully learning how to fillet salmon.

The last step in filleting salmon is trimming. This is more of an aesthetic part than anything, but a truly good fillet does not resemble the fish from which it originally came. To achieve this you must cut off the ventral fins and perhaps some of the fat surrounding them. Any trimming beyond this is a matter of personal preference and what parts of the fish you wish to keep or discard. While not as easy as driving down to the store for some fillets, filleting a salmon is a rewarding experience and offers you complete control over the meat you will be consuming. Learning how to fillet salmon is a nice way to get in touch with a more rugged version of one's self and is a nice nod to the hunter, gatherer in all of us.

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