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How to Properly Prepare Fish Part 1: Scaling
After spending hours pier fishing in California and reaching your ambition of catching some scrumptious looking fish, your next goal is to eat it! This three part series will teach you how to properly prepare and cook fish. In part one we will talk about scaling and cleaning fish.
Step 1 – Check Local Fish Advisory
Before you dive into preparing your catch, the most important single step you can take is to consult your local fish advisories and check if the fish you caught are safe to eat. Different areas have different problems, for example, in many parts of Southern California, white croaker, black croaker, topsmelt and barred sand bass should not be consumed because of DDT and PCBs contamination from the Palos Verdes Shelf Superfund site. In many other locations, mercury contamination is an issue. Step 1: make sure your fish is safe.
Step 2 – Cleaning the Fish
What you need: Tools Checklist
- Work table that is high enough for you to be comfortable working on
- Scaling tool, such as a dull knife, butter knife or upside down spoon
- Container for clean fish
- Bucket for scale and discarded parts
- Gloves
Cleaning the Fish
There are many techniques to cleaning and gutting fish, this guide offers you the basic knowledge to prepare your fish for cooking. The first thing that you need to know is that scaling and gutting a fish can be a messy procedure, so you probably would not want to do this on your kitchen counter. Use a table that is easy for you to work on and can be rinsed easily with a water hose. To begin scaling the fish you need to hold the fish by the head and scrape the scales from the tail toward the gills. Scaling requires a dull knife or something similar to prevent gashing the flesh on the fish. Scales should fly off if you are using suitable pressure. While scaling, your strokes should be short and quick, almost like you are grating cheese. Make sure to get all of the scales off around the entire fish. After you finish scaling one side, rinse the fish and find an area on the table to invert the fish so it is belly up, and finish scaling. After you finish scaling the fish, locate the fish's anus and cut it out in a V shape. Insert your knife point into the cut where the anus was located and draw the knife towards the head, splitting the fish to the base of the gills. Spread the abdominal cavity with your fingers and pull the guts out. Rinse the cavity out with a water hose and wash the skin. Finally, remove the head by cutting it off behind the gills.
Quick Tips
- Keep the fish wet until you scale them, this allows the scales to be removed easier.
- If they dry up before you scale them, soak them in ice water
- Use a dull butter knife or the edge of a spoon to prevent cutting the flesh while cleaning the fish.
Be very careful when cleaning around fish fins, they can be very sharp and cause puncture wounds.
In part one of this series, we gave you the basic strategies for scaling fish. If you want to continue learning how to prepare fish, please read part two of this series entitled How to Properly Prepare Fish: Freezing and Storing, where we will discuss how to store and freeze fish to use at a later time.
About the Author
Jeanette Garcia is a member of the Fish Contamination Education Collaborative, the leading source of fish tips, warnings, contacts and all other information related to the Palos Verdes Shelf Superfund Site.