Trout: how to clean and cut?

What you will learn about in the article:

— The value of trout.
— The benefits of trout for the human body.

— Comfortable cleaning of trout: preparation.

— Tools necessary for cleaning and subsequent processing of fish.

— The process of cleaning trout.

— How to cut trout

— Cutting trout for making fish soup and steaks.

Trout occupies one of the leading positions in Frost-Fish's assortment. This fish is appreciated by chefs of prestigious restaurants and ordinary housewives. Trout meat can be red, white or pink, but is equally tasty and tender when baked, fried, or boiled. In addition, fish is also very healthy.

Trout value

This species combines three subspecies of salmon fish. Habitat, mineral composition of water, season, weather and climatic conditions are factors that influence the color of trout. Shades range from olive to golden and yellowish-green, with dark spots. Rainbow trout are distinguished by a bright stripe along each side.

The smallest fish live in streams and rivers, while the largest ones live in the seas. Trout is well bred in captivity, so it is always available for our diet. Interestingly, fish of this species live only in clean salt and fresh waters, and absolutely cannot tolerate their pollution.

Benefits of trout for the human body:

high energy value – up to 148 kcal;
the presence of Omega-3.6 polyunsaturated fatty acids;
vitamins A, D, E, K, group B;
essential amino acids – arginine, lysine, leucine, valine and others;
a large amount of easily digestible protein - 28% of the daily value;
high content of iron, potassium, selenium, iodine, zinc, calcium, manganese, sodium, copper.

Thanks to such a rich composition, trout meat helps improve the functioning of the cardiovascular, nervous, and immune systems. By regularly eating fish, you can slow down the aging process of bone tissue, brain cells and the whole body.

Comfortable cleaning of trout: preparation

Some housewives do not have enough knowledge about the rules for processing trout and do not have the necessary practical experience. The method of processing fish depends on the purpose of its further use. There will be different ways to prepare a carcass for such types of culinary processing as salting, baking, frying, and steaming.

The fish does not always have to be completely gutted and scaled, since in some cases it is removed immediately with the skin. But most often, the classic method of preparing trout is needed. If you do it incorrectly, you can ruin the taste of the product and deprive it of its beneficial properties for human health.

How to make cleaning fish simple and easy? First, trout carcasses need to be rubbed with coarse salt, since freshly caught specimens are most often covered with mucus. Then rinse thoroughly under running water and dry lightly with paper towels. Now it is convenient to hold the fish without fear that it will slip out.

Frozen trout cleans much faster. To speed up the process, you can lightly freeze chilled or freshly caught fish. It is enough to keep it in the freezer for about 50 minutes. Then the scales are removed more easily, and there is no effort to remove the skin along with the plates. To do this, the trout is doused with boiling water, and the skin is removed using ordinary pliers.

Frozen fish are processed on a board, having first rubbed the trout with rock salt so that it does not slip. When fish needs to be defrosted faster, it is placed in cool water for a short time. This way it will not lose its taste properties. Re-freezing fish is strictly not recommended!

Tools required for cleaning and subsequent processing of fish:

cutting scissors;
fish board;
a pair of rubber gloves;
a knife with a small handle;
special fish cleaner;
containers for finished products.

Stage 1: cleaning trout from scales

Cleaning fresh fish

Subsequence :

First rinse the trout to remove mucus.
If the trout slips out, rub it with coarse salt.
For cleaning, it is better to use a short serrated knife, a kitchen grater or a metal sponge. Let's start cleaning off the scales in the direction of growth of the plates. Then we work from the tail to the head.
Scrape off the surface of the skin, slowly and carefully so as not to damage the carcass.
We pay special attention to the scales on the belly. It sits tightly in this place, so you will have to make an effort. From time to time we run our finger against the growth of the plates. This will allow us not to miss uncleaned areas.
Rinse the cleaned fish.

To prevent scales from staining your kitchen, immerse and clean the fish in cool water or in a bag.

Video - how to quickly and easily remove scales from fish [life hack]

Cleaning frozen

We process frozen fish according to a similar scheme. By the way, it is easier to remove scales from frozen trout and it is easier to remove the skin. Therefore, experienced housewives freeze the fish a little before cutting.

But if the fish is very frozen, then put it in for 30 minutes. into cold water. Do not defrost it with boiling water or hot water.

When choosing frozen trout, inspect the carcass. The belly should not be covered with yellow spots, fat or cuts.

Trout cleaning process

Trout scales are small and thin. On the back and sides it is very easy to remove, but on the abdomen it is held tighter. To prevent the sparkles from scattering, it is better to clean the fish in a separate basin or in the kitchen sink. If you use a fish scaler, you need to periodically wash it to remove scales. The carcass must be held by the tail, as when cleaning trout with a sharp knife with a short handle. The operating algorithm does not change from using the tool.

The trout scales are removed against its growth, in the direction of the head, with small movements. To make the process more comfortable, the fish is periodically washed with running water. Trout can be cleaned well with a fishing knife with a serrated blade or a fine kitchen grater. In nature, this process can be carried out with the handle of any cutlery, rock salt or river sand. It will be enough to rub the fish with it harder and then wash it.

How to clean fish from scales?

To clean trout from scales, you need to perform several preparatory steps. They will help simplify the work and complete it in the shortest possible period of time.

Cleaning fish from scales is done using the following items:

a special fish knife (with serrations) or a metal brush for washing dishes;
cutting board;
paper towels;
latex gloves.

In most cases, housewives do all dirty work wearing gloves. This helps protect the skin of your hands from the negative effects of various factors.

Procedure:

The fish is washed thoroughly with cold water. They do this in order to get rid of the mucus that covers the trout.
After this, take paper towels and use them to get rid of the remaining moisture.
The fish is sprinkled with salt on all sides. This little trick will help prevent the trout from slipping out of your hands.
To clean the scales with a sharp knife or a metal brush, start from the tail, gradually moving towards the head. This work must be done as carefully as possible, since the slightest mistake can damage the delicate skin of an aquatic inhabitant.
Then the trout is turned belly up and all the same steps are repeated as for the side parts of the carcass.
At the very end, the fish is washed with water and the fingers are checked for missing scales.

How to cut trout

First, the tail and remaining fins of the fish must be removed. Then make an incision along the abdomen with a knife with a long sharp blade or cutting scissors. The incision begins in the area of the anal fin and ends at the gill wings of the fish.

The insides of the trout should be carefully removed and discarded, and the milk and caviar should be washed and transferred to a prepared container for further preparation. The fish inside must be cleaned as much as possible from blood clots and film. If the belly is not completely cleaned, the trout will taste bitter when cooked.

The caviar found in the belly of the fish is a real delicacy. It is easy to pickle. It is in special bags. The films curl up in hot water, so you need to place them there and carefully release the eggs with your hands. You can use a grater with large holes, but you need to rub the bags carefully. Then the red caviar is washed well and temporarily immersed in a solution of table salt. Store the finished delicacy on the refrigerator shelf, in a dry and clean jar, closed with a lid.

Cut off the head of the fish at an angle, without cutting through the skin on the back. Lift it up and pull it together with the skin with a “stocking” all the way to the tail. Trout cutting is complete. It can be cut into portions and fried or baked.

If you need to keep the fish whole and undamaged to prepare a dish, you can use the Chinese method of gutting. Make a small transverse cut in the area of the lower central fin. Two bamboo sticks need to be inserted into the trout's mouth in a special way. Hold each one over the gills, pressing them. Push the sticks through the hypobranchial opening into the abdomen until they stop. Connect the ends with your hand and turn them like a corkscrew 3-5 times. Carefully, slowly remove the insides along with the gills. Rinse the fish with running water until completely clean.

To fillet a whole fish, an incision is made along the entire ridge with a sharp knife. At the very head, the trout meat is pryed off with a blade and smoothly cut off to the tail. The knife should be held at an angle of about 30°.

Each half of the fish is placed on the board, skin on. The bones are removed with a knife away from you. The ridge is left for preparing the broth. The rib bones are cut out in a very thin layer, and small ones are removed by hand. You can use flat tweezers for this purpose. Then the pulp is separated from the skin using a sharp knife. Trout fillet is ready!

Cutting process

This process is more labor-intensive than cleaning fish from scales. To achieve the desired result, you should perform the following steps:

Many experienced chefs and fishermen begin cutting up the river delicacy with gutting. To do this, take a knife with a sharp blade and a thin tip. We make a cut along the entire length of the fish's body, starting from the anus and ending with the head.
Separate the insides. To do this, we grab them at the junction of the head and body and carefully remove them.
We cut the film inside the belly and clean off the remaining blood.
We remove the gills. To understand how to remove gills from fish, video and photographic materials are not needed. It is enough to lift the gill scutes and cut them with a knife at the place where they are attached to the head.
We take out the gills and rinse all the fish with water.

Fish prepared in this way can be fried or baked in the oven.

Having studied the method of cleaning and cutting trout, you can easily understand how to clean dorado, sea bass, mullet or other fish.

Filleting

If you want filet steak

The whole process consists of several stages:

We clean the trout from scales and rinse thoroughly.
We cut from the beginning of the head to the ridge.
Unfolding the knife, we make a cut as close as possible to the ridge from head to tail.
We make cuts in the same way on the opposite side of the trout.
We separate the ridge and head. Do not throw them away under any circumstances, but use them to prepare delicious fish soup.
Cut out the rib bones as thinly as possible.
Similarly, we cut off the back bones and remove the fins.
All other bones are removed using tweezers.
Place the fish on the skin.
Separate the skin from the meat using a thin knife.
The fillet can be cut into equal pieces for steak.

In the same way as cutting trout into steaks, you can process any other fish.

Caviar separation process

When catching or purchasing trout, caviar will be a special bonus. After salting, it can be used to prepare various delicacies. But before that, it must be correctly removed and carefully separated from the film. There are two ways to do this:

Immerse the caviar in hot water with salt dissolved in it. Then, using a fork or any convenient object, stir the delicacy, tearing the film. Having removed the torn parts, we continue the same steps. At the end, we wash the caviar and remove the remaining small parts of the film.
Rub red caviar through a coarse grater. In this case, the main part of the film will separate, and all that remains is to rinse and filter the delicacy.

Frozen version

Not everyone has the opportunity to buy or catch a fresh delicacy, so it is worth knowing how to handle frozen trout.

Before defrosting the fish, you need to remove the skin from it. This is quite easy and quick to do. You need to pour boiling water over the carcass and remove the skin using pliers. After all these steps, you can defrost and cut the fish.

On the one hand, cutting fish is a fairly simple task. However, not everyone can do it correctly.

This article is intended to provide guidance on how to cut trout. This fish appears quite rarely on our tables these days.

Expert opinion

Mikhailov Ivan Maksimovich

Furniture maker. Work experience 3 years.

This is due to the fact that valuable fish species are constantly disappearing due to active fishing or bans are imposed on their fishing. Due to this, it is quite expensive and housewives cut and prepare cheaper fish.

The cleaning and cutting technique is not much different, therefore, there should be no problems with cutting trout. At the same time, it is necessary to follow some rules.

Cutting trout for preparing fish soup and steaks

Trout has excellent taste and a delightful aroma. Even the most spoiled gourmets like dishes from this type of fish. Trout soup is a valuable element of dietary nutrition, and no one will refuse a delicious baked steak.

The broth for rich, aromatic fish soup is prepared from ridges, tails, heads, and subperitoneal meat. If desired, you can add other parts of the carcass. To prepare the first course, a properly cut fish head will be useful. The gills are cut out first. It is this trout organ that is responsible for filtering water, therefore it accumulates not only harmful substances, but also microorganisms, dirt, and mucus.

If the gills are not removed, the broth will be cloudy, with an unpleasant odor and a bitter taste. The paired organ is easily removed. You need to make cuts slightly to the side of the fish's gill plates and below the jaw. The head also “disassembles”. Cut along the remaining element of the ridge to 5-7 cm in length. Open the head of the fish with your fingers and make another incision from the side of the nose to the spine from the inside.

The cutting of whole trout for preparing fish soup and steaks follows a certain algorithm. First you need to cut off the head with fins at an angle of 90°. Place the trout carcass on a cutting board and, together with the skin, cut into portions for steaks at least three centimeters thick. When cut this way, the fish will remain juicy after cooking. The skin and bones will keep the pieces intact when frying or baking.

The Frost-Fish company offers you the freshest trout from environmentally friendly fish farms for preparing the most delicious and healthy dishes.
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Stage 2: gutting the trout

Subsequence:

Using a knife or scissors, cut the cavity along its entire length.
We remove all the insides. If there is caviar inside, then we take it out for salting. We throw away the rest.
Immediately we remove films and blood from the abdominal cavity. "Blood spots" can be scraped off with a teaspoon.
The head is optional: leave it or remove it.
Gills containing harmful substances and unpleasant taste must be cut out. To do this: make a cut on the side of the gill plates and under the jaw. Open the gills slightly and cut them off. The head needed for the dish is not removed, but only cut from below.
If the head still needs to be removed, then we cut it at an angle, trying not to cut the skin on the back. We fold it back towards the tail and pull the skin, which will come off entirely like a stocking.
We cut off all the fins, ridges and tail.

Carefully remove the film and blood from the belly of the fish. Otherwise, the final dish will be bitter.

How to properly gut trout: master class [video]

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