How to quickly clean and cut pike for cutlets

Fishermen consider it a great success if they catch a pike. She has very tasty and healthy lean meat. It contains a lot of unsaturated fatty acids, micro- and macroelements. You can prepare delicious dishes from it, and few people will refuse them. But there is a small “but” - this is cutting the fish. Most women don't know how to clean or don't know how to cut a pike. And this is easy to do if you know a few tricks and secrets. You should find out in advance how fish is properly cleaned and cut. This work is painstaking and requires patience.

Top 3 simple ways to clean fresh pike from scales

For high-quality cleaning of fresh fish, ordinary and special knives, serrated scrapers, and forks are used. The fish is scalded with boiling water and treated with a stream of water.

If you are going to fry whole pieces, it is advisable to remove the scales with minimal damage to the skin.

Cleaning pike with a fish scraper

You can find scrapers for cleaning fish on sale. In some houses, such devices have been preserved since Soviet times. Now they are sold in hardware stores.

There are dozens of scraper models. The working part of the tool is a serrated blade (or several blades) made of steel.

Cleaning pike using boiling water

Hot water softens the pike's skin. After heat treatment, the scales are easily separated from the body of the fish.

Sequencing:

Boil water in a kettle (for large pike this will have to be done several times).
The fish is placed in a basin or in a sink (sink) and poured with boiling water on both sides.
The pike is rinsed with cold water and moved to a cutting board.
Take an ordinary kitchen knife and begin cleaning: the blade is drawn from the tail towards the head. The scales are removed from the fish in layers without effort.

Cleaning fish with a high pressure washer

A compact pressure washer can be used for more than just car washing. A pressure jet of water quickly and efficiently separates scales from fish.

This should be done in the yard, as the scales fly to the sides along with the splashes.

Sequencing:

The pike is placed on the board.
Turn on the sink and set the water pressure to medium.
The jet is directed towards the tail of the pike, at an angle to the fish.
The sprinkler is moved along the carcass, from the tail to the head. The scales are completely removed and removed with water. At the same time, the skin of the fish remains intact.

In field conditions, pike can be quickly cleaned with a homemade scraper. The bottom of an empty tin can is pierced with a nail (from the inside out). The resulting holes have sharp, ragged edges.

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You need to make 12-15 holes. You will get a convenient grater that can be used to clean any fish efficiently.

Cooking fillet

Before you fillet the pike, you need to carefully cut it into two parts. To do this, run a knife along the ridge of the carcass from the gills to the tail. As a result, you will have one fillet, and the second part of the fish remains with the ridge and head.

Cut off the head of the pike. Separate the meat from the ridge. Place the second part of the carcass with the spine down and cut out the flesh with a sharp knife. Remove the bones from the bottom of the fillet.

Remove the skin. Place one piece skin side down and press it from the tail side to the board with a fork. Using the knife in your other hand, pull up from the tail and separate the skin from the meat. Carry out the same procedure with the second piece. Now you know how to clean a pike.

For cutlets, you will need to grind or chop the pulp with a knife into minced meat. And the sirloin part can be baked, fried, or served with sauce. Potatoes and other fresh and baked vegetables will serve as a side dish.

The remaining head, spine and fins make a wonderful broth. But to prevent it from being cloudy, do not forget to remove the gills and eyes. The skin does not need to be removed if you plan to fry or boil the pike.

❄ Features of cleaning frozen pike

Frozen pike is cleaned without defrosting, using a large kitchen knife. Special knives (Evenki and Yakut) are ideally and quickly cleaned, in which one side of the blade is smooth, the other is regular, wedge-shaped.

Frozen fish is taken out of the freezer (brought into the house from the street).
The pike is taken by the tail and placed with its nose on the floor.
They begin to clean the scales with a knife, making planing movements from the tail to the head.

To securely fix the carcass, you can use a non-slip box or egg cassette (the nose of the fish is placed in it).

It is better to clean frozen fish using cotton gloves.

Pike cleaning

The predator lives in fresh water bodies, is bony, has sharp teeth, and can easily be injured . Although it is difficult to cut, if it is prepared correctly, the meat will be juicy, tender and unique in taste.

To clean frozen fish, prepare it. Take a bowl of cold water, pour a little salt into it and dip the pike in it. The carcass should be completely covered with water. You can also defrost it in the microwave.

When the carcass is ready, rinse it and dry it. First, it should be cleared of scales; a knife or grater is used for this . It must be removed starting from the tail towards the head. Take a sharp knife and cut off the fins on the abdomen along with a thin strip of skin. Then make a cut along the line of the gills. Open the belly and remove the internal organs. Gutted fish can be filleted.

Important! When removing the entrails from the fish, handle the gallbladder carefully. Make sure it doesn't break. If bile gets on the meat, it will taste bitter. And if this happens, rinse the carcass under running water. Before filleting pike, read some practical tips:

Live fish is cleaned faster, frozen fish - when the scales thaw.
While working, wear rubber gloves and cotton gloves on top. This way you won't hurt your hands and the fish won't slip.
The knife must be sharp.
The pike is rubbed with lemon juice to remove the characteristic odor of river water.
To speed up the process, scald the carcass with boiling water or soak in warm vinegar water.
It is good to clean fish outside to save the kitchen from splashes and scales, and yourself from unnecessary cleaning.
It is advisable to use a glass or plastic board for cutting fish. Wooden is not suitable as it absorbs odors. To prevent slipping while cutting the board on the table surface, place a damp cloth under it.
To prevent the tail from slipping during operation, it must be well sprinkled with salt.

Rules for gutting and cutting pike

The pike is gutted and cut after cleaning the scales.

How to properly cut pike into cutlets:

The belly of the fish is cut open and the entrails are pulled out. It is important not to damage the bile, otherwise the product may be spoiled.
The esophagus is removed along with the gills, leaving the head. The white film running along the belly (also known as the swim bladder) is removed.
The head is cut off with a knife.

After that, they move on to cutting up the carcass itself. This procedure will vary depending on what you plan to cook: minced, filleted, whole pieces or stuffed fish.

For minced meat

If you plan to prepare minced meat for cutlets, only large bones (spine) are removed. The vertebral column of the pike is strong and hard. If the pike is small, then the spine does not need to be removed.

Cutting medium and large pike for minced meat involves the following steps:

The fish is placed on a cutting board.
The knife blade is placed parallel to the spine (in the place where the head was) and the fillet is cut to the tail. The knife should be held as close to the ridge as possible.
In the same way, cut the fillet from the other side of the fish.
The middle part with the spine is removed; it will be useful for preparing fish soup.
The pike for cutlets is deboned, but not thoroughly, because... During the process of grinding meat into minced meat, the bones crumble and are not felt in the finished cutlets. The fillet is scrolled in a meat grinder through a fine grill. To better grind the seeds, this can be done twice.

For frying fillets

There are many bones in the pike's body, among them there are massive (spine), medium and very thin. There are a lot of seeds and it is difficult to remove them.

The boneless product is prepared in the following order:

The fillet is cut along the entire length of the carcass.
The pike is turned over and the fillet is cut off on the other side.
The remaining ridge and tail section are cut into pieces and set aside.
The ribs are cut from the fillet. They are very thin; if the knife is sharp, there will be no significant loss of product.
Fins are cut out.
The flesh with the bones is felt above the rib line and two parallel cuts are made along the fillet.
The strip with bones is separated with a knife and cut out of the fillet.
The remaining bones are removed with tweezers. A layer of boneless fish pulp is obtained.
The skin is removed from the fish.
The fillet is cut into portions and the dish is prepared according to the chosen recipe.

For frying in pieces

Preparation for frying in pieces does not take much time.

The carcass is processed as follows.

The fins are cut off from the pike.
The tail is cut off.
Cut the fish into pieces 1.5-2 cm thick. If you plan to bake the pike in the oven, the length of the pieces can reach 10-15 cm.
If the pike is large, the pieces are cut randomly to make it convenient to place them in the pan.

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For stuffing

Stuffed pike (with and without head) is prepared in the oven. Medium-sized fish are suitable for this dish.

Cutting steps:

An incision is made around the pike head.
The skin along with the fins is removed from the carcass using a knife and scissors. To ensure that the skin is easily removed, the carcass is beaten with a rolling pin.
The pike meat is cut off (and picked by hand) from the remaining part of the carcass. All that remains is the skeleton of the fish.
Prepare minced meat for filling using fillet, vegetables, herbs, meat, eggs, and other ingredients.
The removed skin is stuffed with minced meat, and the abdomen is sewn up. The dish is prepared in the oven.

Chefs recommend that you remove the gills. When baked, they can become bitter. Some recipes recommend removing the eyes for the same reason.

How to cut pike into fillets or minced meat for cutlets

Useful properties of pike

Calorie content of 100 grams of raw pulp is 80 kcal, boiled pike meat is 94 kcal.

The product can be eaten without restrictions, including by people suffering from a number of diseases. The only obstacle to use is individual intolerance.

For what diseases should pike meat be included in the diet?	Useful properties of the product
Overweight, risk of diabetes	Pike meat consists mainly of proteins, the product contains very little fat and no carbohydrates.
Vitamin deficiency, metabolic disorders, colds, weakened immunity	The product contains vitamins A, C, E, niacin (vitamin PP) and trace elements (Mg, Fe, P, Zn, Ka, S, Co, F, Cr, Co, I, Ni).
Nervous system diseases, problem skin, weak hair	Contains B vitamins.
Diseases of the gallbladder, stomach, intestines, cardiovascular system, kidneys	Boiled pike is included in medicinal diets as a non-greasy, easily digestible product.

Pike, like other river fish, is susceptible to infection by parasites. Therefore, you cannot eat raw fish. The product will be completely safe after boiling, frying and baking for 20-30 minutes.

Fish pies and pies are baked for 40-60 minutes. Salted pike can be eaten after 5-7 days. The fish is cut with gloves on a separate board.

How to quickly, easily and simply fillet a pike in 2-3 minutes - the method of a fish farm worker

Today I’ll tell you how you can easily and simply, and most importantly quickly and cleanly, cut pike into fillets without bones and skin. A friend from the fish farm showed me the cutting method - 2-3 minutes and the pike fillet is on the table!

Anyone who has cooked pike cutlets knows that there is nothing tastier in this world. You need to make minced pike for cutlets. And before winding it through a meat grinder, you should cut the fish into fillets.

With the right approach and practiced skill, you can get pike fillets in a matter of minutes. It only takes 2-3 minutes to cut one fish.

Before showing the cutting process, I want to note that the best pike for cooking (boiling or frying) weighs from 2 to 4 kilos. Small pike - a lot of bones, but little meat. Too plump and mature - the meat is rubber - suitable only for drying.

The fastest option

If you plan to make roasts, cutlets, dumplings, pie filling from pike, or get layers of fillet for some recipe, you don’t need to save the skin.

In this case, it is simply removed along with the scales in a few minutes.

Before cleaning the pike for cutlets, you need to make an incision along the back and pry it with a knife. Place your index finger under it and, moving forward, separate it from the pulp. After this, the fillet is removed from the bones and washed well.

You can also cut the fish lengthwise into two layers. Remove the backbone and trim the flesh from the rib bones and skin.

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How to quickly cut a pike photo

How to quickly cut a pike , I think, is necessary for those who do not want to buy this fish because they do not know the technology of cutting fish and it seems to them a very complicated procedure. But in fact it is very simple. Pike is one of the few fish that is found in almost all rivers of our country, and even in fresh seas. Yes, and it catches well. Especially in winter. In addition, pike meat has a low calorie content - only 84 kcal per 100 grams of weight and can be used in dietary nutrition due to its low fat content. But before you cook the pike, you need to cut it. Forward!

We have already published pike recipes on our website. But this is the first time we’ll tell you how to quickly cut a pike.