How to peel scales from herring. In the form of fillet

Herring has been the most popular fish on our tables for many decades, both on holidays and on weekdays. It can be served in any form: sliced ​​fillet with onions and butter, or in salads, for example, in the traditional “herring under a fur coat.” True, not everyone likes to cut herring; It is considered to be a difficult and painstaking task. We will tell you about several effective and simple ways cutting herring, and this task will no longer scare you.

Preparation for cutting

1. The color of the gills should be dark red. More dark color indicates that the herring is no longer fresh and unfit for food. Another sign of freshness is that the gills are elastic and do not fall apart.
2. The fish's eyes should not be cloudy or protruding from their sockets.

Also pay attention to the smell. There should not be any foreign impurities in it (for example, bitterness or rottenness). To avoid mistakes, buy only fresh or weak salted herring. How spicier ambassador, the more likely it is that the manufacturer used it to hide unpleasant odors.

On covers of high-quality fresh or lightly salted herring There should be no stains, cuts or holes. After the integrity of the skin is damaged, oxidative processes occur inside the carcass, invisible from the outside, and the fish begins to quickly deteriorate.

It is better to buy whole herring carcasses to control its quality

So, the herring has been purchased, and you need to start cutting it. For this you will need:

• cutting board;
• sharp knife;
• tweezers or tweezers for removing small bones;
• plastic bags for waste.

It will be better if you have a separate board for cutting fresh or lightly salted herring. The fact is that this fish has a persistent and corrosive odor that is difficult to wash out of a wooden surface. You can place a sheet of cardboard, paper, or a thick napkin on the board (this makes it even more convenient to remove waste). But under no circumstances should you spread the newspaper! Printing ink will definitely end up in your stomach along with the herring, and this is harmful to the body.

It is also advisable to have a separate knife. It’s good if you have a set of knives, including a special cutting knife for fish.

If you have long nails, you can easily remove small bones from a cut carcass. Otherwise, arm yourself with tweezers or eyebrow tweezers.

Traditional way

1. Place the fish on a cutting board lined with paper or a napkin. Use a sharp knife to cut off the head.

   Cut off the herring's head

2. After this, cut off the tail.

   Then separate the tail

3. Take the herring by the upper fin. Carefully cut it off.

   Cut off the dorsal fin

4. Place the herring carcass with its back facing you. Run the knife into the belly, and starting from the tail, carefully cut.

   Cut the belly

5. Now you can easily remove the insides by helping yourself with a knife. There may be milt or caviar inside the carcass. Many people love these products: you can eat them simply with bread or cook some original dish, for example, pate. In any case, thoroughly clean the milt and caviar from the intestines.

   Remove the entrails using a knife to help you

6. Be sure to remove the lower fins from the herring's belly. To do this, lay the fish on its side and cut strips half a centimeter wide along the entire length of the abdomen. Cut from the inside, on both sides.

   Remove the bottom fins

7. Clean the inside of the carcass from the black film. Rinse thoroughly under running water cold water(not warm and not hot!).

   Rinse the herring with cold running water

8. Place the herring on a plate or board with its back facing you. Make an indentation with your left thumb where the fin was cut. Move with little effort to the top of the carcass, separating the skin, and then to the bottom, to the edge, strictly in the middle. The back will be divided into two neat halves.

   Divide the back into two halves

9. Place the herring carcass with its back facing you again. Grab the edge of the skin from the side of the tail and gently pull it towards you so that it does not tear, but comes off completely.

   Peel off the skin on one side

10. Repeat on the other side of the fish carcass.

    Repeat on the other side

Ready! The herring is cleaned and you can serve it to the table.

Pay attention! If you cut fresh and not salted herring in this way, make sure that it is completely defrosted. This makes it much easier to move away from the bones and “shed” the skin. But it is easier to cut off the head and tail of frozen herring.

Cleaning a carcass from bones in different ways

You can simply cut the peeled herring into pieces, place on a plate and serve as is. But it’s better to spend a little time and remove all the bones from the carcass. There are several simple methods, thanks to which you will do this easily and quickly.

For fillet

1. Take the prepared carcass and begin to separate the ridge. Separate a little meat near the tail so that it is easy to grip. Grasp it and, holding the remaining part of the carcass on the plate with your free hand, gently pull upward with forward movements. The bones will gradually come out of the herring meat. The fresher the fish, the easier the bones will separate.
2. Turn the carcass over to the other side, placing it with the ridge up. Using the same movements, stretch the spine along with the bones.
3. Starting from the top, select the remaining bones and black membranes from the inside of the fillet, and so on to the tail.

This way you can prepare herring fillets for salads, especially for. All you have to do is cut the meat into suitable pieces.

In the same way you can clean and raw herring. True, this will be a little more difficult: salting slightly softens the meat and allows it to move away from the bone more easily.

One-step cleaning

For this method, first prepare the carcass: remove the fins, skin and entrails.

Take the herring by the tail with both hands. Her side will be directed towards you. Tear the tail a little with your hands, spreading them slightly apart. Hold the herring very tightly, otherwise it will slip out of your fingers.

Holding the carcass in front of you with both hands, “flip” it towards you so that the herring describes a circle around its own tail.

Now cut the fish in one motion, quickly spreading your arms to the sides. If everything is done correctly, the back with the ridge will remain in one hand, and two stripes of the abdomen in the other. Now all that remains is to separate the back from the bones.

Herring fillets can be used for salads, for example, “Herring under a fur coat”

With fresh raw herring It’s better not to do such a trick. It is unlikely that you will be able to remove the meat from the bones without damaging the fillet. But if you want to prepare fillets for “herring under a fur coat” or other similar fish dishes, then the method is quite suitable; the meat will still need to be cut into small pieces.

Punching method

This method does not completely remove the bones from the fillet, but it is also quite simple.

1. Gut the fish, cut off the fins and remove the skin. Rinse thoroughly under running water. Then make an incision on the back of the carcass. Take it in your hands so that the fingers of your palm are inside the abdomen, and thumb lay in the dorsal incision.
2. Squeeze your fingers and separate part of the fillet from the backbone using a pressing motion. Continue doing this until half of the fillet is completely separated. If you carry out the process carefully and carefully, most of the bones will remain on the ridge.
3. Do the same with the other half, but now hold the ridge with one hand, and with the other make pushing movements.

This method works well on fresh, well-thawed herring.

Another simple way

Place your thumb at the location of the dorsal fin, 2–3 cm deep. Carefully move it towards the tail, dividing the carcass of fresh or lightly salted herring in half.

Take the free part of the fillet on the tail and pull it towards the head. When you have separated one half, proceed to the second. Place your finger under the spine and remove the tail portion of the fillet. Pull the spine, lifting it away from the fish. Now all you have to do is remove the bones from the fillet.

Video: quick cutting of herring

We have told you only about a few ways to clean herring from bones. Surely you have your own proven method that you constantly use. Please tell us about it in the comments. Bon appetit and comfort to your home!

Calories: Not specified
Cooking time: Not specified

Before every holiday, every housewife thinks about what to cook, what to serve to the long-awaited guests, in order to feed everyone deliciously. Few people can have a feast without fish, without herring, for example, it is obligatory festive dish always happens. It’s just that herring is always at the head of the table, there are always a lot of people who want to try it, so why not serve lightly salted herring for all the guests. But you definitely need to clean the herring. Simply cutting the herring into pieces and serving it with the bones will be ugly. And the guests will spend half a day struggling with the bones, getting their hands dirty, and then running around to wash them. To avoid this, simply fillet the herring yourself. I'll tell you how to peel herring quickly and without bones. You can quickly cut the herring fillet before guests arrive and treat everyone deliciously. To give the herring additional taste and aroma, you can chop a fresh onion and pour a small amount of vegetable oil on it. It is better to take homemade oil that is aromatic and fragrant. So buy the herring and clean it yourself, without any problems, so that there are no bones. There are also ready-made fillets on the shelves, but they are not as tasty as freshly cut fish, so I prefer to buy a whole, tasty, fatty herring and quickly clean it, which I advise you to do as well.

Required Products:
- 1 lightly salted herring,
- knife,
- scissors,
- clean paper and napkins.

Step by step recipe with photo:

Using fish scissors, cut off all the fins of the herring.




Next, we make an incision with a sharp knife along the ridge from head to tail.




We remove, or rather pull off the herring skin on one side and on the other. We begin to remove the skin from the side of the head and pull towards the tail.




Now we cut off the head and tail with a knife.

Cleaning herring is one of the most unpleasant procedures in the kitchen. There is a lot of fuss to remove the numerous bones from this fish, and it will also permeate the entire kitchen, cutting board and hands with a fishy smell. But there is a technology that will help you peel herring quickly and without bones.

Step-by-step action plan for cleaning herring

Sandwich with pieces of herring in five minutes

Many people like it simple food For example, ordinary lightly salted herring with potatoes and onions is delicious; my family also really loves this simple dish. But the process of cutting herring is a problem. So how to fillet a herring so that there are no bones? I’ll say right away that it’s not realistic to select all the bones, but we can try to remove the majority. Only the smallest bones will remain, which you cannot feel, especially if you cook the herring with the addition of vinegar, the vinegar will make the bones soft and invisible.

I always buy lightly salted herring, so I never soak it before cutting, and this is not recommended. The fish loses its useful qualities, swells from the liquid in which it was soaked, the shelf life, even in the refrigerator, is sharply reduced - only a day. Therefore, I will not give advice on soaking herring; if necessary, you can easily find it yourself.

When cutting lightly salted herring, use a cutting board or paper towels; by the way, this is even more convenient - after finishing cutting, carefully wrap them and throw them away. I’m more accustomed to using a cutting board to clean the herring. Do not take newspapers for cutting - the fish will absorb huge amount harmful substances. Why endanger your health for the sake of some imaginary convenience? So, how to cut a herring - step by step photos...

What do you need to cut a herring?

• lightly salted herring
• cutting board
• sharp knife
• tweezers
• waste bags

How to clean herring step by step photo

Cut off the head and tail

1. Place lightly salted herring on a cutting board, cut off the head, then the tail.

Clean the herring from the insides

2. Using a cutting board, cut off the upper fin, inserting a knife into the belly of the fish to the tail, cutting through it, trying not to damage the insides, there may be caviar or milt there, now you can easily free the lightly salted herring from the insides. There is often either caviar or milt inside; caviar and milt can be prepared as a separate dish, or served together with cooked fish. Put the milk and caviar in the refrigerator. Step by step photo.

Cut off the fins of the fish and wash

3. Cut off the fins from the belly on a cutting board, remove the black film, and wash the fish under running water. cold water, place on a paper towel and let it drain. Step by step photo.

Removing the skin

4. With effort, but carefully, we divide the back into two parts, tearing the skin. You can, of course, cut it with a knife, but this way we will maintain the integrity of the parts of the back - they will be more neat. Grab the skin of the fish, remove it from one side; if the skin breaks, it’s okay, then from the other side. Step by step photo.

We take out the ridge of lightly salted herring

5. Holding the herring by the tail, grab the edge of the flesh and gently pull it up, holding part of the fish with the ridge on the plate with the other hand. Do not pull sharply so that the bones have time to pull themselves up behind the spine. For the rest of the lightly salted herring, we repeat the process of removing bones. Step by step photo.

Removing small bones

6. You need to select the bones that remain. First we pull out all the large bones, then carefully select the small ones. It is more convenient to do this with fingernails or tweezers. Step by step photo.

Ready fillet of lightly salted herring

7. After cutting the fish, we have fillets available, from which you can prepare many different delicious dishes. Now we know how to cut a herring, but how to cook a herring?

For example, take a cutting board, cut the fillet into pieces, put it beautifully on a plate, pour vegetable oil, if you want, add a little vinegar, if possible decorate with onions and herbs - serve on the table, a dish with a beautifully decorated lightly salted herring looks great on the holiday table.

Caviar can also be served as a separate dish, beautifully decorated

How to cook herring

If you boil the potatoes and chop the onion along with the fillet, a complete simple dish is ready. You can prepare an elegant one puff salad- herring under a fur coat.

We still have milk and caviar - we will use the milk and caviar to prepare several dishes to choose from, for example, a pate of milk and salted herring caviar, or canapés with milk.

Finally, a few photos from the Internet - how to cook herring and present the dish beautifully

Few people don't like herring. It is good with potatoes, onions, black bread, not to mention the famous herring under a fur coat. Serving this fish to the festive table is ours national tradition. At a low cost, herring has excellent taste, and therefore it is considered an affordable delicacy for everyone. One thing is upsetting: cleaning and cutting herring is a rather dirty process, and without experience and knowledge of how to properly clean and cut fish, it is also labor-intensive.

What kind of fish is this and how is it useful?

Herring - sea ​​fish. It lives in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and in most lightly salted seas. The herring family consists of more than 60 species of fish; in our country the most famous are Atlantic, Norwegian, Ivasi, as well as herring and sprat, also related to herring.

Herring is found in almost all lightly salted seas

The beneficial properties of herring can hardly be overestimated. Fish is very fatty, and these are the healthiest, unsaturated fats, the so-called Omega 3. The protein content in herring meat is such that 250 grams of fish satisfy daily requirement in it human body. On the contrary, there are few carbohydrates.

Calorie content depends on the type of herring, on average it is 240 kcal.

In addition, herring meat is rich in vitamins B, PP, E, D, A and microelements: potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, iodine and others.

The omega 3 content makes herring beneficial for the heart and blood vessels, fights “bad” cholesterol without reducing the amount of “good” cholesterol, and reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes. Vitamin D is good for bones and kidneys, especially important for pregnant women. Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant, vitamin A improves vision. And these are just a few useful properties herring.

Herring has no contraindications. Yet this product contains a highly allergenic protein. People with food allergies, especially allergies to seafood, should avoid herring. There are restrictions on the use of salty and smoked fish. Large quantity salt is harmful for hypertensive patients and those suffering from kidney disease. Smoked meats should be eaten with caution if you are sick gastrointestinal tract, liver. In this case, it is better to bake or steam the fish.

But before cooking it needs to be cleaned and gutted. Let's look at how to do this correctly using the example of salted herring. It is sold without scales.

How to clean and gut salted herring without dirtying the kitchen

The question may arise: why clean it at all, if you can buy ready-made fillets or preserves in different sauces or oil? When buying such products, you cannot be sure that they are made from fresh, high-quality fish. Read the ingredients on a jar of preserves to see what kind of chemicals are there. So if you want quality product, buy whole fish. How to choose it correctly will be discussed below.

Before you begin, prepare everything you will need for cleaning and cutting. This will determine how comfortable it will be for you to work and how clean the space around you will remain.

What you will need:

• sharp knife;
• cutting board;
• paper napkins or towels;
• thin rubber gloves, preferably with a rough surface;
• tweezers or tweezers for removing small seeds.

Photo gallery: necessary items for cutting herring

Cut a strip of meat from the belly to open it

Having gutted the carcass, we move on to the next operation.

How to easily remove the skin from herring

Now all that remains is to free the parts from the bones.

Proper cutting: how to remove large and small bones in salted herring

The herring is bony. In addition to the backbone and ribs, it is literally stuffed with many small bones. But from tender meat they are easily removed. This can be done in several ways.

Traditional way

1. Cut off the tail.
2. Use your thumb to spread the meat on the back and run it along the spine to the rib bones. The meat will separate easily.
3. Holding it from the inside with four fingers, continue pressing to separate the fillet from the bones, moving along the ribs from the head cut to the tail. Try not to tear the ribs away from the spine.
4. After separating one fillet, do the same on the other side.

Unconventional way

1. Wrap the fish without head and entrails in a paper towel.
2. Lightly tap the package on the table.
3. Remove the towel and place the fish belly down on the board.
4. Press down on the back and press it firmly against the board.
5. Turn the herring over and remove the backbone along with the bones, starting from the head cut.

Video: two ways to quickly peel herring, remove the skin and remove the bones

Easy way

1. Separate the back meat from the backbone, as if traditional way. It’s more convenient to do this on both sides, and only then start separating the ribs.
2. Pry the meat at the tail and pull up. The bones will remain on the backbone, and you will get a clean fillet.
3. Do the same with the other fillet, holding the spine with your other hand.

Fast way

1. Make a cut near the tail to the ridge at a slight angle.
2. Pry the meat with your fingers and pull up. Pull gently so as not to tear the ribs away from the spinal bone. You will have a clean fillet in your hands, the bones will remain on the other half.
3. Turn the fish over and repeat the procedure on the other side.
4. With this method, it is important that the films are removed from the abdomen, otherwise they will interfere with the separation of the bones.

In one motion, holding the fish by the tail, remove the bones

1. If you are using this method for the first time, lightly cut the tail in the middle.
2. Grasp the ends of the tail with both hands and lift the fish in front of you. Fingers should point down.

   Grasp the ends of the tail with both hands and twist it vertically.

3. Swing the fish so that it makes a full rotation around the tail towards you in a vertical plane.
4. Spread your hands in different directions, tearing the herring into two parts. In one hand you will have the back with the spine and rib bones, in the other - the halves of the abdomen freed from bones.
5. Separating the halves of the back from the ridge is now not difficult. Do this as you would with the traditional method.

Video: how to properly cut a herring and rid it of bones - 2 ways from a chef

After any of these methods, small bones may remain. Remove them using tweezers or tweezers.

This is interesting! Traditionally, on one Saturday in June, Herring Day is celebrated in the Netherlands, which marks the beginning of herring fishing. On this day, anyone can eat dishes made from freshly caught herring.

Now the fillet can be chopped for salad, passed through a meat grinder for mincemeat, or simply cut beautifully and served.

Ways to beautifully cut fish fillets

There are many ways to cut herring. For homemade lunch this can be done simply in slices, but for festive table It's worth trying.

You can cut it into slices both for serving on a plate and for snack sandwiches.

If you cut them at an angle, you get these cute diamond shapes.

From thin slices cut diagonally, assemble a flower that will decorate the plate. To do this, place the slices one after another in a chain.

Roll the chain into a flower, place it on a plate, add snacks, and decorate.

The flower can also be assembled from fillet strips.

Thin strips can be rolled into rolls and served on sandwiches.

You can make rolls from whole or half fillets, fasten them with a skewer, or serve them on a plate.

Pieces of salted and smoked fish arranged in a herringbone pattern look good

Of course, salted and smoked herring are more familiar to us. But, like any other fish, herring can be cooked in different ways: fry, boil, bake. And for this you will need fresh or frozen herring.

Cleaning fresh and frozen herring from scales

Pre-defrost frozen herring by placing it on the top shelf of the refrigerator overnight. Be sure to place it in a bowl and do not take it out of the bag, otherwise the fish juice will leak onto the shelves and you will have to start cleaning the refrigerator, and the aroma of the fish will remind you of your mistake for a long time.

In general, the process of cleaning and cutting fresh and frozen fish is not much different from salted fish. Except for one thing - it must first be cleared of scales. But don’t let this upset you, herring scales fall off easily. It may happen that you buy fish almost “naked”. But if scales are still there, they need to be removed.

Proper cleaning of scales:

1. Rinse the fish under running cool water and dry with a paper towel.
2. Place it on the board with your head facing you.
3. Holding the tail with one hand, scrape from the tail to the head, using the blunt side of a knife or a special scraper.

To prevent the scales from scattering in different directions and staining the entire kitchen, some housewives clean them in water. To do this, place a bowl in the sink, put the fish there and fill it with water so that the fish is completely covered. Clean underwater, only if the fish is completely immersed in water, the scales do not fly apart. Watch the video tutorial below to help you carefully remove scales from fish.

Video: how to clean fish from scales in water at home

Experienced fishermen remove scales without using any equipment, using their fingers. Using your thumbs, starting from the tail, pry up the scales and separate them from the skin. At the same time, the scales do not fly apart, and the skin remains clean and smooth.

I'll share my secret quick cleaning remove fish scales using only your fingers. Take, for example, a medium-sized crucian carp and put it in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then take it out and, under running water, use your fingers against the “fur” to rip off the scales from the tail to the head. The advantage is that it is fast, and the kitchen at home remains free of flying scales.

http://www.rusfishing.ru/forum/showthread.php?t=3187

Video tutorial: how to peel fish scales with bare hands

How to properly cut fresh fish:

1. If the fish will be cooked whole, remove the gills. To do this, lift the gill shield, trim the gills at the attachment points and remove them. This is convenient to do with culinary scissors or simple scissors.
2. Use a knife or scissors to cut off all the fins.
3. Gut the fish.
4. If necessary, fillet it using one of the methods discussed above. Depending on the recipe, the skin is removed or left on.

Useful tips: how to choose quality fish in a store and properly prepare it for processing

• When choosing fish, pay attention to the gills. Their color should be bright red or dark burgundy, but not whitish or gray.
• The eyes of fresh or frozen herring should be transparent, not cloudy, the flesh should be elastic, and the skin should not be damaged.
• Rusty spots on the surface of the herring indicate oxidation of fats; avoid buying such fish.
• The meat of females is drier. If you have not set out to buy herring with caviar, choose a male.
• Place several layers of clean paper on the board before cutting the fish. Baking paper is also suitable for this purpose. Remove top layers as they become dirty. workplace will always be clean.
• Use latex gloves for work; the fishy smell is difficult to wash off.
• You can get rid of the smell of fish by rubbing your hands with a slice of lemon.
• Do not remove the skin starting from the tail. A lot of meat will be removed along with it.
• Do not throw away caviar and milt, they are quite suitable for food.
• If the herring is too salty, soak it in milk for 1-2 hours or strong tea. Herring with dense flesh is soaked in milk, and herring that is too soft is soaked in tea.

Everything comes with experience. Don’t be afraid to take on the task of cutting fish, and every time you will do it better, cleaner and faster. Find a method that is convenient for you. And enjoy herring - a healthy and tasty fish.