fish-cleaning-art - 4/29/06 "Amra's Capsule of Cleaning, For Freshwater Fish, Intended for Beginners" by al-Sayyid Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra (Amra). NOTE: See also the files: eels-msg, Angling-art, butchering-msg, fishing-msg, med-fishing-lnks, whales-msg, fish-pies-msg, fish-msg, stockfish-msg, seafood-msg, salmon-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 16:40:43 -0600 From: "Mike C. Baker" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Using all the fish To: "Cooks within the SCA" > We have a local place where we can get uncleaned fish for about 50% less > than cleaned fish. So I am wondering what are some good strategies for > making maximum use of any edible or good for flavoring part of the fish? > And I should warn you that I have minimal fish cleaning experience, so > there's no such thing as over explaining here :-). > > Sharon > gordonse at one.net "Minimal fish cleaning experience": ***** Here's _Amra's Capsule of Cleaning, For Freshwater Fish, Intended for Beginners_. Understand that I am trying to condense many years of observation and practice to a few relatively brief paragraphs here. The process is not really that difficult, or even that time-consuming, once you get the basics down. What follows is strictly from my memory and experience, and as such may not be as complete as what you might obtain from working directly with me or another experienced freshwater sport fisherman. Useful tools: heavy cord or braided fishing line, knives/cleavers, spoon(s), pliers (at least two pair if skinning catfish), diagonal pliers/wire cutters, assorted buckets and pans, scaling board, cleaning post / frame / method to suspend the fish. A work surface a little above waist height helps, something that can be cleaned regularly during the process. If dealing with live fish straight from the stringer, trap, or holding cage, a small hammer and/or a stiff wire (or approximately 20d nail) for use as a pithing spike are strongly recommended EXTREMELY Useful Resource: someone who has done this before (I learned from my grandfather & father; Grandad Baker spent the last 20+ years of his life on the lake 8 months out of 12, typically cleaning fish at least four days a week), or at least a video / film covering parts of the process. STAGES: 0) Determine if better filleted or "cleaned", based on type and size of fish. Set up area: source of clean water, bucket for discards, pan with clean water to receive main parts we wish to keep (OPTIONAL: add some table salt to this pan), second pan(s) filled with water for secondary parts we are keeping for other uses. 1) (Larger fish, most catfish of any size) Suspend the fish from a post / line, over an area that can be washed down afterward, using large cord (one per fish, or switch off after completing first two stages of process) threaded though gills and mouth. Rinse fish and tools with clean water. 1A) For catfish, clip base of primary "spikes" using wire cutting pliers (diagonal pliers) if not already done by fisherman. (Clipping these *before* putting into the holding cage or onto a stringer is safer and results in less damage to the rest of the catch...) 1B) For live fish, kill using hammer or pithing spike. (If you've gotten this far, I'll assume that you aren't too squeamish...) THIS TAKES SOME PRACTICE for most people, and is definitely easier to show than to describe. For catfish, pithing is easier / simpler / more humane, but finding the right spot to insert the spike is best shown by someone with prior knowledge and even then can take some 2A) remove fins / barbs: making an incision on either side of the base of fins, use pliers to pull fin out of carcass. For catfish, remove the clipped barbs with pliers and DISCARD (poisons/significant bacterial threats). By suspending the fish as described above, we can pull *down* during this process, using our weight to make things easier. NOTE: for small scaled fish intended to be filleted, removing the fins is sometimes treated as optional. 2B) (larger scaled fish) take down long enough to remove scales (see Stage 3). Hang back up, carefully slit open abdominal cavity, go to Step 2D. 2C) (catfish, or other fish where the skin is removed before use such as eel) using a SHARP knife, cut through the skin just below the gill slits, "girdling" the fish. Repeat just above the tail spines (some fishermen remove the tail completely at the point, using a pair of pliers and a sharp twisting motion). Cut ONLY as deep as necessary to sever the skin. Using two pair of pliers, one on each "side" of the fish, clamp onto the skin just below the incision line and pull downward with a steady, constant pressure. Done well, this will remove the skin more or less in one piece AND will open the intestinal cavity, perhaps even removing the bulk of the internal organs. Discard skin into "trash" bucket -- or reserve for special projects (too many for most eating purposes). Rinse with clean water, taking care not to let the outside of the skin contact the newly revealed meat of the fish. 2D) Using your hands, especially your forefingers, hook behind the internal organs and remove from carcass. You may need to use a small knife to detach supportive tissue -- be careful not to puncture the gall bladder! Rinse out the cavity thoroughly. 2E) Break / cut through backbone just below gills, separating the head from the main carcass. Rinse meat with clean water, put into prepared pan. Discard fish head, or remove to secondary-usage pan. 3) it is FAR easier to remove fish scales with a spoon that it is with a knife -- for scaled fish. Depending upon size, I have had the best luck scaling up to three or four pound freshwater by using a prepared scaling board: attach a short length of heavy braided line to one end of a plank about 18 - 24 inches long and 8 - 10 wide (larger for larger fish, of course). Clip off or file off the barb from a large fish hook and attach to the free end of the line; alternatively, stiffen the free end of the line by adding a tippet / dipping in glue / tying on a large and relatively blunt needle. Hook this into the mouth/gill slit of the fish to be scaled, hold down the tail with one hand, use other hand to scrape back against the grain of the scales with the edge of a spoon bowl (hold bowl between thumb and forefinger, supporting the spoon handle with palm /wrist). Flip fish over, repeat on other side. 4) Separate into pieces, generally working on a horizontal "cutting board" surface. 4A) filets: cut along ribcage carefully, taking care not to cut into / through any bones, working head-to-tail and beginning just below the pectoral fins on smaller fish. 4B) "steaks": either using a cleaver or a heavy-backed knife (one you won't cry about being hit with a hammer), cut across the carcass perpendicularly to the backbone, taking care to cut between the ribs. I'm not that accurate with a cleaver, hence the "trick" of using a hammer to break through between the vertebrae. 4C) "whole" fish: what separation? 5) Holding for use / Longer term storage: 5A) Under refrigeration, using light brine (1/4 cup salt per gallon?), up to three days in a good refrigerator. Depending on type of fish, better flavor usually develops after 4-6 hours and is retained through the next 24 - 30 (freshwater catfish) -- RINSE THOROUGHLY before cooking. 5B) To freeze, rinse thoroughly and pack loosely into cartons, then completely fill with fresh water. Freezing into a solid mass in this manner avoids "freezer burn"; with a reliable chest freezer, this worked for as much as three years with minimal impact to flavor and texture when fried normally. (We used to do this process in well-cleaned one gallon paper milk cartons, leaving enough free space above the water line to fold the result closed. Have had comparable results in half-gallon paper, or one-gallon plastic with the top removed and a plastic film cover rubber-banded into place.) Using this method of freezing, remove from freezer and allow to thaw at room temperature the day of use (hold in refrigerator up to 36 hours after thawing). ***** PLEASE: I'd like any observations / alternatives / questions that may arise -- I don't go out as much or as widely as I once did, family lives half a continent distant, and I want to preserve some knowledge here AND I want to do so in such a fashion that it is coherent, useful, etc. Adieu, Amra / ttfn - Mike / Pax ... Kihe (Mike C. Baker) SCA: al-Sayyid Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra, F.O.B, OSCA "Other": Reverend Kihe Blackeagle PULC (the DreamSinger Bard) Edited by Mark S. Harris fish-cleaning-art Page 4 of 4