How to clean a fish!

This morning, a bucketful of fish deposited on the doorstep by Hubby. He had gone out fishing earlier and brought home twenty-eight nice sized mullet..but he had things to do and places to go. This made for a dilemma! I was thinking that there were two options..one, the mullet could sit in the sun and become a huge pile of stinky mess..or two, I could grab a knife and help him fillet the mullet so he would finish in a timely fashion. Not particularly wanting to deal with a stinky bucket full of dead fish, the second option seemed to be the most logical. I grabbed a knife and headed out the back door.

Cleaning fish need not be the most difficult of tasks. Back in the day, there was a rule around here..you catch it, you clean it. Still is..within reason. I peered in the bucket..that sure seemed like a lot more than twenty-eight fish! No sense in delaying..I picked up the first fish and started my filleting. About thirty minutes later, we were finished cleaning the fish. All were packed in bags and ready to be distributed to those in need. About half way into cleaning the fish, I started pondering the fact that not many wives would be out playing with dead fish. Not many would know the method of deboning and descaling the fish. Nor would many be willing to stand out in the deer flies, mosquitoes and yellow jackets while being broiled by the blistering heat. (It was 96 degrees with a relative humidity of 84%..heat index..144!) Hence..the post..step by step instructions on "How to clean a fish!"

First step is to make sure your knife is sharp as a dull knife will render the task almost impossible. Pick up the first fish and grasp the head. Notice the pectoral fins..these are the ones on the side by the gills. (Think of a tot imitating a fish by flapping their hands by their neck..those hands would be the pectoral fins!) The pectoral fin is the starting place for your filleting to begin!

With the knife perpendicular to the fish, cut down slightly just behind the fin. Cut easy, feeling your way to the spine. Once you feel the bones, turn the knife with the sharp side toward the tail of the fish and start cutting. Use the spine as a guide and slide the knife almost to the tail making sure to stop about 3/4s of an inch before the tail fin.

This your first fillet! Flip the fillet of meat over onto the tail fin. Now comes the tricky part! Using the skin (with scales attached) as a guide, start cutting toward what used to be the head end of the fish. Run the knife between the skin (scales) and the meat until you reach the opposite end. Viola! A fillet has been created! But is still not boneless!

Lay the fillet down and look at it. It is easy to see the rib cage that once protected the vital organs of the fish. Those bones have to go! Feel where the bones are all in a row and cut that piece away. The fillet should now be entirely free of scales, skin and bones! A good washing should make this ready to cook!

Wait! There is another side to the fish! Flip the now half of fish over and repeat the above steps on the other side. Continue on until that whole bucket of fish is filleted and ready to be toted inside! It is really not that hard once you get over your squeamishness. Living on the Bayou, this is basically a daily chore. Sometimes, I can convince Hubby that a cup of fresh coffee would be an even trade-off for his cleaning the fish. This time, however, I was willing to help and when we were through..I was treated to the mug of coffee!