Gutting Fish

I'm going to try and guide you through gutting / cleaning fish - a procedure that some people have problems with.

1. We're going to assume that you already have a fish, and if you're not too keen on that fishy smell, you can leave it in ice over night and gut it the next day.


2. You're going to need a very sharp knife (filet knife), and a flat surface.


3. Once you have the fish flattened out on the table, you can start the cutting! Make a slit through the belly of the fish, starting cutting from just under the jaw and ending just past the anal fin - don't cut too deeply, or you'll pierce the digestive system.


4. When you can see the internal organs, make a slit to separate the organs from the head - that's one part done.


5. Second, you'll need to make the same slit to separate organs closest to the anus.


6. At this point, you should be able to stick your hand in (depending on the size of the fish) and remove all the guts. If the last 2 steps were done properly, this should have been fairly clean, otherwise it probably got messy. If this is your first time, you'll get better...


7. Once the guts are removed, we need to look for one more thing. Look for a dark line that may look like a vein near the backbone - use your finger nail, or a spoon to remove it.


8. Clean the fish thoroughly with cold clean water.


9. You're pretty much done now - you can cook the fish as such, or cut it's head off first.