Of course, it is most convenient to buy already cleaned and cut fish in the store. But, firstly, it will cost much more than unpeeled, and secondly, a good ear or fish soup can be obtained from the head, fins and tail of pink salmon.
Pink salmon: how to clean fish
Fish preparation
The scales of pink salmon are not large, but they must be removed, even if you are just going to salt this delicacy product and then cut the meat off the skin for sandwiches. To cook this fish in any form, you will also need to remove the insides from it. It is quite possible to make the perfect fillet out of it. Do not be afraid that you will have to cut the purchased pink salmon at home on your own – it is not so difficult. First, if you bought a frozen carcass, you need to defrost it correctly. Leave it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator overnight, or if you are in a hurry, defrost it, leaving it to lie down at room temperature for an hour or an hour and a half. Rinse the fish before cleaning.
Unlike salmon and trout, pink salmon meat is rather dry, therefore it is not very suitable for frying or baking in foil. It can be stewed in sour cream or salted for sandwiches.
Hold the tail of the fish firmly in your left hand and begin to clean the scales, gradually moving from the tail to the head. Brush one side first, then the other. Do not make any special efforts so that the scales do not scatter in all directions, act carefully. Carefully cut the abdomen and places around the head fins with a knife. Rinse the fish from the scales so that it is convenient to cut it further.
Take a sharp knife and carefully cut out the dorsal and caudal fins, cutting them deeply along with the tip of the knife. Then cut off the head, rinse it from the inside in cold running water, remove the gills by cutting them at the bases with kitchen scissors. Cut out the pectoral and head fins, cut off the tail by 3-4 cm. Fold the head, tail and fins separately – this is the future ear.
With a sharp knife, starting from the anus, rip the belly of the fish. Proceed with caution – if you come across a female, there may be eggs inside the abdomen. Open the cut and remove all the insides. If you see a black film inside the abdomen, you need to remove it. This can be done by scraping the film with a knife. Rinse the carcass inside and out under running water. Using the sharp tip of a knife, remove the skin from the fish.
The head shape of the female and male pink salmon is different. In females, the nose is slightly raised up, in males it is sharper and more straight
Make a deep cut along the bones of the ridge to the spine of the fish. Begin to separate the fillets from the bones. Carefully cut the meat from the ribs with a knife, and then from the spine, first from one side, then from the other side. The resulting fillet can be used for salting or stewed.