| While the terminology is often interchanged and | | | | removed. Scale the fish, rinse, and wipe dry, |
| loosely used, a cleaned fish and a filleted fish are | | | | washing it as little as possible. |
| actually two different things. It is important to | | | | On the other hand, to fillet a fish, you do not |
| point that out before describing simple methods | | | | actually have to cut into the body cavity. Simply |
| for bone removal. A cleaned fish is essentially a | | | | cut around the top of the head to separate the |
| whole fish carcass, while a fillet is the whole meat | | | | cartilage behind the gills from the flesh. Then |
| that has been separated from the rib bones of | | | | make a cut from the head to the tail along one |
| one side of the fish. | | | | side of the top fin. Work this cut down and along |
| If the fish is to be cooked whole, you would | | | | the rib cage to separate the back of the fillet, and |
| obviously clean it first. Begin by slitting the fish | | | | then work forward to cut away the rest of the |
| from the lower belly to the gills, and remove the | | | | meat from the ribs. Do this on the opposite side |
| entrails. The gills and membrane should also be | | | | as well. |