[0 - 1] - Can I skip kissing the fish?
[2 - 3] - I know it was, it was my idea,
[3 - 4] but I don't know if I wanna kiss this fish
[4 - 5] that one's gimme the eye.
[5 - 6] Hi, I'm Frank Proto.
[6 - 9] I'm a professional chef and a culinary instructor.
[9 - 14] And this is how you break down a whole fish. Okay buddy.
[14 - 15] We're on camera, smile.
[16 - 18] We're talking how to fillet it,
[18 - 20] how to prepare to cook it whole and serving.
[20 - 24] This is how to break down a fish 101.
[24 - 26] Buying a whole fish and breaking it down yourself
[26 - 29] can be super intimidating but don't be scared off.
[29 - 30] With whole fish,
[30 - 32] it's easier to determine whether it's fresh or not.
[32 - 34] And it's a bigger bang for your buck.
[34 - 36] You can roast the fish whole, or you can take the bones
[36 - 37] and make a stock with it.
[37 - 39] With a few easy techniques,
[39 - 43] you'll be able to fillet your fish in no time. [upbeat music]
[43 - 44] When I'm buying whole fish,
[44 - 47] there's a bunch of things that I'm looking for.
[47 - 49] First and foremost, when you smell a fish,
[49 - 51] it shouldn't have a fishy smell.
[51 - 55] It should be neutral or smell like an ocean breeze.
[55 - 57] Another determining factor is looking at the eyes.
[57 - 60] You can see they're super bright and black.
[60 - 62] There's slightly bulging out and that's what you want.
[63 - 65] When the eyes start to get sunken and cloudy,
[65 - 67] that means the fish is old.
[67 - 70] When you press on the flesh, does it spring back?
[70 - 73] If you press on the flesh and it leaves in indent,
[73 - 74] that means it's getting old.
[74 - 76] See how I press on the flesh,
[76 - 77] I'm not leaving any dent.
[77 - 79] One of the other determining factors
[79 - 81] is there's the scales are on there really tight
[81 - 83] that not just rubbing off.
[83 - 85] Lastly, we wanna look inside the belly
[85 - 86] and check for belly burn.
[86 - 88] Is it discolored?
[88 - 90] Does it have yellow spots or dark spots?
[90 - 93] Belly burn means that the guts have been left in too long
[93 - 96] and the fish is basically breaking down from the inside out.
[96 - 99] One thing I never do when I buy whole fish is scale
[99 - 100] and gut them at home.
[100 - 101] It's way too messy.
[101 - 104] So I to get my fishmonger to take the guts out
[104 - 106] and to scale my fish for me.
[106 - 109] This should be offered freely in every fish market.
[109 - 114] They shouldn't charge you for scaling and gutting your fish. [upbeat music]
[114 - 116] One of the main advantages to filleting is
[116 - 118] that you're getting a clean piece
[118 - 120] of fish with no bones in it.
[120 - 121] It reduces the cook time.
[121 - 123] Fillets cook extremely fast.
[123 - 124] It's easier to portion out
[124 - 126] or at least figure out how many portions you need.
[126 - 129] We tend to use fillets for larger fish
[129 - 132] or meatier fish because they don't fall apart easily.
[132 - 133] Before you fillet your fish,
[133 - 134] make sure that it's cold
[134 - 136] because if it gets warm, it gets mushy.
[136 - 138] And it's a lot harder to fillet.
[138 - 139] There are two types of fish that you're gonna fillet,
[139 - 141] a round fish and a flat fish.
[141 - 143] Both of these have very specific ways
[143 - 144] that you have to fillet them.
[144 - 147] Here I have a bronzino, which is around fish.
[147 - 149] I'm gonna get a paper towel and wipe it down.
[149 - 152] If it's wet, it's gonna slide around my board.
[152 - 156] The knife I have here is more of a traditional boning knife
[156 - 158] that has a lot of flex to it.
[158 - 160] I'm just gonna make sure that my knife is nice and sharp.
[160 - 163] One thing I always tell my students is you're not a surgeon.
[163 - 166] We're not using a scalpel or the tip of the knife.
[166 - 168] We're using the larger portion of the knife.
[168 - 169] There's a fin there.
[169 - 170] You can feel the bone,
[170 - 173] get under the fin and cut around the head.
[173 - 175] So I go all the way to the tip of the head.
[175 - 177] There's a little piece of meat there
[177 - 180] and I'm gonna cut directly down to the backbone.
[180 - 182] Make sure that the back of my knife
[182 - 185] is resting on the backbone.
[185 - 189] I'm gonna just pull my knife down all the way to the tail
[189 - 192] and then I'm gonna lift rest my knife on the backbone
[192 - 194] so that I have no flesh left here.
[194 - 197] When I get down to here where the spine is,
[197 - 199] I'm gonna tilt my knife up
[199 - 201] get the tip of the knife in there
[201 - 203] just to go up and around the backbone.
[203 - 205] And then I'm gonna flatten my knife out.
[205 - 207] Once I get to the belly,
[207 - 210] I'm gonna take my knife and I'm gonna pull the fillet off,
[210 - 212] cut through the belly bones.
[212 - 215] So I'm leaving those belly bones or those ribs on there.
[215 - 218] I like to always replace my fillet.
[218 - 219] If I don't have the fillet there,
[219 - 221] my fish kind of sits at a wonky angle.
[221 - 225] So I almost always use the first fillet as a prop
[225 - 226] to hold my fish up.
[226 - 228] Make sure my knife is clean.
[228 - 230] Run it over my steel again.
[230 - 231] And then I just go the opposite way.
[231 - 234] I'm gonna start at the tail and go to the head.
[234 - 237] Once we get to the spine,
[237 - 238] make a little incision there,
[238 - 243] flatten it out, cut off the belly.
[243 - 245] Put it in some water, cover some vegetables,
[245 - 246] simmer it away.
[246 - 248] You got a great fish stock.
[248 - 250] And now I have my two fillets
[250 - 252] that still need a little bit of cleaning.
[252 - 254] I wanna get off these rib bones here.
[255 - 256] I'm getting my knife under those bones.
[256 - 258] I angle it up so that when I cut down,
[258 - 263] the blade of my knife is cutting along those rib bones.
[263 - 265] This can go in your stock too.
[265 - 268] So again, with the other side, last thing I need to do
[268 - 270] before I skin these fillets,
[270 - 273] right along the belly, or right along the ribs,
[273 - 275] there are pin bones, which are really small
[275 - 277] and these are the bones that people tend to choke on.
[277 - 278] I have my tweezers,
[278 - 281] wherever the head of the fish was, faces me.
[281 - 283] They usually come out a little easier
[283 - 285] if you pull towards the head.
[285 - 287] They're really hard to see so that's why you have
[287 - 289] to count on feeling for them.
[289 - 291] And I pull the pin bones.
[291 - 294] You wanna be careful not to tear the fish up
[294 - 294] too much with this.
[294 - 296] And there's about five or six of them.
[296 - 300] And I just rub until I don't feel any more bones.
[300 - 302] Each fish has a different amount of pin bones.
[302 - 304] So be sure that you get 'em all out.
[304 - 306] If you see something like a blood spot like this
[306 - 307] you can always just trim it away.
[307 - 308] Believe it or not,
[308 - 310] with a lot of fish, the skin is edible
[310 - 312] and people tend to kind of shy away from it.
[312 - 314] A fish like this, the skin is delicious.
[314 - 316] Taking the skin off this fillet is optional.
[316 - 318] Today I'm gonna show you how to do it.
[318 - 320] I like to put my fillet on the edge
[320 - 322] of the board so I can get down low.
[322 - 324] If I can't get down low, my knuckles get in the way.
[324 - 326] So I'm making a little tab on the tail side.
[326 - 328] This will allow me to hold it.
[328 - 330] If you don't have room for a tab,
[330 - 333] you can always get a paper towel and hold onto the skin.
[333 - 334] I'm holding on.
[334 - 337] My knife is angled down towards the board.
[337 - 340] I'm gonna wiggle the skin and my knife at the same time.
[340 - 342] And my skin comes off.
[342 - 343] You like that.
[343 - 346] Move a little shake and shimmy. [upbeat music]
[346 - 346] And there you have it.
[346 - 349] That is our round fish fillet it and skin it.
[349 - 350] This is ready for cooking.
[350 - 353] Now let's move on to how to fillet a flat fish.
[353 - 355] Here I have a fluke and the fillet technique
[355 - 357] for this is completely different than a round fish.
[357 - 358] The fluke of the flounder starts
[358 - 361] out swimming like a normal fish,
[361 - 362] eye on either side.
[362 - 365] But as it gets older, the eyes migrate to one side
[365 - 368] and the light side is what's in the sand.
[368 - 370] The dark side is the top side.
[370 - 373] They dig or wiggle themselves into the sand.
[373 - 376] So their camouflage and it keeps them safe from predators.
[376 - 377] I start on the white side,
[377 - 379] these tend to be the smaller fillets
[379 - 382] and for beginners it's a lot easier to see.
[382 - 385] If you look at the fish there is a line there,
[385 - 388] and that line tells you where to cut.
[388 - 389] Believe it or not.
[389 - 391] So, what I like to do is take my knife
[391 - 395] and run it straight down that line.
[395 - 398] You'll get some scales on your knife.
[398 - 399] Just wipe those scales off,
[399 - 403] the skin on these flat fish tends to be a lot firmer
[403 - 405] because it's not an oily fish.
[405 - 406] So they don't scale these
[406 - 409] because most people are gonna take the skin off.
[409 - 412] The belly is here and the head is here.
[412 - 415] Make an incision there by the head.
[415 - 418] And then I like to make an incision of the belly.
[418 - 419] If you squish around here,
[419 - 423] you can feel that the belly stops where the bones end.
[423 - 426] There is a small part of filleting that I'd use the tip
[426 - 427] and that's right now.
[427 - 428] I'm gonna take the tip of the knife.
[428 - 431] I'm gonna rest the back of the tip of the knife
[431 - 433] against the spine and run it down the spine.
[433 - 435] That just gives me a little space
[435 - 437] so I can get the flat of my knife in there.
[437 - 441] So I'm taking my knife, I'm pushing it flat on the bones
[441 - 443] and I'm just getting the length of the knife
[443 - 445] and I'm dragging it towards me.
[445 - 447] As I drag it towards me,
[447 - 451] I just roll the fillet back and I got my first fillet.
[451 - 454] So from the other side, it looks like this.
[454 - 455] I get my knife,
[455 - 457] I lay it flat,
[457 - 458] pushing with a fair pressure
[458 - 462] so the back side of my knife is resting on those bones
[462 - 464] and I have my other fillet.
[464 - 466] We can now turn it over.
[466 - 467] So we're looking for that line again.
[467 - 470] It's a little more faint on this side of the fish,
[470 - 471] but again, we're not just using the tip.
[471 - 472] We're using the whole knife.
[472 - 475] I'm gonna cut around the head.
[475 - 477] And then I'm gonna cut around the belly.
[477 - 480] Where the bones end is where the belly starts.
[480 - 482] This is the point I'm gonna get in there with the tip
[482 - 483] of the knife,
[483 - 486] run it along the spine on both sides
[486 - 488] just to kind of free it up from the spine.
[488 - 492] And then I get my knife in there flat against the bones,
[492 - 494] roll my fillet away.
[494 - 495] And there's my top fillet.
[495 - 496] You can see the difference in color
[496 - 498] between the top and the bottom fillet.
[498 - 500] The bottom fillet is a little bit whiter.
[500 - 502] The top fillet is a little grayer,
[502 - 504] a little more meaty, a little less flaky.
[504 - 505] I think the textural difference is more
[505 - 507] than the flavor difference.
[507 - 511] So now I have all four of my fillets.
[511 - 514] This carcass as long as the gills
[514 - 515] and the guts are taken out,
[515 - 517] you can use it for another stock.
[517 - 519] For flat fish, you definitely want to take the skin off it.
[519 - 522] It's not tender and it's really not good eating.
[522 - 525] So get it on the edge of our board,
[525 - 528] make a little incision and I'm barely moving my knife.
[528 - 530] I'm just kinda wiggling and the skin comes off.
[530 - 532] Skin can go into your stock.
[532 - 535] The fillet also has these little end pieces
[535 - 537] that are parts of the fin.
[537 - 538] You can add them to your stock
[538 - 540] or you can just cook 'em and eat 'em if you want.
[540 - 541] Same thing with the rest of my fillets.
[541 - 544] What I'm gonna do next might be controversial
[544 - 546] to a lot of chefs.
[546 - 547] I hate scales.
[548 - 550] Flat fish, almost always has scales on it.
[550 - 552] Some people say, you can just scrape this off.
[552 - 554] I don't feel that does the job.
[554 - 556] So I'm gonna take 'em to the sink,
[556 - 558] under very light water pressure.
[558 - 559] Give them a nice rinse,
[559 - 562] get all those scales off,
[562 - 564] right onto a paper towel.
[564 - 566] Some chefs are gonna hate me for that.
[566 - 568] They say, once the rain jacket or the skin is off,
[568 - 571] you don't wanna wash your fish. I disagree.
[571 - 574] I'd much rather lose a little bit of flavor
[574 - 577] than of scales on my fish, 'cause they're disgusting.
[577 - 580] And that is what you call a strong opinion. All right,
[580 - 582] these fillets are ready to be cooked.
[582 - 583] To plate fillets,
[583 - 586] I'm always gonna put the bone side up,
[586 - 588] not the skin side up.
[588 - 589] We made a simple sauce in the pan that we sauteed
[589 - 593] the fish fillets in with lemon, parsley and butter.
[593 - 595] And we're just gonna spoon that over the top,
[595 - 597] couple of lemons on the side
[597 - 599] in case people like it lemony and there you have it.
[599 - 601] The fillets are ready to eat.
[603 - 607] That is a nice piece of fish. [upbeat music]
[607 - 610] Roasting a whole fish is a little bit more forgiving.
[610 - 612] The skinny bones help trap moisture inside the fish
[612 - 615] and you have a more tender, flaky finish products.
[615 - 617] Fish on the bone tends to be more flavorful.
[617 - 620] I think that the best fish to cook whole is
[620 - 621] the nice flaky white flesh fish,
[621 - 625] red snapper, black bass, stripe bass.
[625 - 626] Here we have a bronzino
[626 - 628] which is really good for roasting whole.
[628 - 629] Let's prep it.
[629 - 632] I have a pair of kitchen shearers.
[632 - 634] People will call these a scissor, but they're not.
[634 - 635] Yeah, they are okay, Frank.
[635 - 637] They are okay. I'm sorry.
[637 - 638] They're a scissor.
[638 - 639] They're usually a little more sturdy.
[639 - 641] You can cut bone with this.
[641 - 643] To start off, you're gonna get it scaled and gutted.
[643 - 645] And if your fish has the fins on it,
[645 - 649] I like to take off the back fin with a kitchen shear
[649 - 651] any sort of fins that stick out.
[651 - 653] We can even trim the tail here
[653 - 656] because these parts tend to burn.
[656 - 658] I like to put a little extra virgin olive oil
[658 - 662] on the fish, rub it in on all sides.
[662 - 666] The olive oil will make it so that our seasoning stick.
[666 - 669] I'm gonna put a few lemon slices on the inside,
[669 - 670] close that up.
[670 - 673] Black pepper on both sides,
[673 - 675] generous helping of salt.
[675 - 678] I like my skin to have salt on it
[678 - 679] so it almost forms a crust,
[679 - 682] maybe just a little bit of salt on the inside.
[682 - 684] I'm gonna put this in a 350 degree oven
[684 - 685] for at least 20 minutes.
[685 - 688] To check if this fish is done,
[688 - 689] kinda pull on the collarbone,
[689 - 691] you see how it frees up nice and easy.
[691 - 692] That means it's cooked.
[692 - 696] The collarbone should pretty much pull out fairly easily.
[696 - 698] You could just dig in there like a savage
[698 - 699] and eat it off the bone.
[699 - 700] Like, you know, pick it up
[700 - 701] but that's not the way we wanna do it.
[701 - 704] We wanna present it in a really nice way.
[704 - 710] I have a few tools that I'm gonna use to fillet this fish, two spoons
[710 - 712] and a fish spatula,
[712 - 715] it's a lot more springy than your normal spatula.
[715 - 718] And it has holes in order to drain things.
[718 - 720] What I like to do first is get my spoon
[720 - 723] and make an incision with the spoon.
[723 - 727] Kinda get under that skin along the backbone, right?
[727 - 730] And basically just lifting off the flesh from the backbone.
[730 - 735] And I'm just gonna pull a away some of those top fin bones
[735 - 736] and get rid of 'em.
[736 - 740] Now what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna free up this fillet
[740 - 744] and take it away from the fish.
[744 - 747] Let's try and keep our skin intact.
[747 - 748] I'm gonna flip this over
[748 - 752] because that's my top fillet and that's the nice fillet.
[752 - 753] I don't need these lemons anymore.
[753 - 757] The next thing I'm gonna do is just pull the skin away.
[757 - 760] I'm gonna take the tail off and pull the spine of the fish.
[760 - 763] You see how that spine comes off nice and easy.
[763 - 764] Get rid of that.
[764 - 767] Pull away any bones that I see.
[767 - 769] And then I have these belly bones.
[769 - 772] I'm gonna get it under with the spoon
[772 - 773] and try and take those away.
[773 - 775] I think a knife will just shred it
[775 - 780] whereas a spoon will kind of give me a nice gentle pull.
[780 - 781] One thing about whole fish
[781 - 783] is there's always gonna be a few bones left.
[783 - 785] You're never gonna get them, all right.
[785 - 788] And that's what people who eat whole fish understand.
[788 - 790] There's a sacrifice for that flavor.
[790 - 792] Now my bottom fillet goes on.
[792 - 796] I'm gonna take my top fillet with the skin still intact
[796 - 798] and it's gonna go right on top.
[798 - 800] You might wanna squeeze some lemon on this,
[800 - 803] maybe a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and you're done.
[803 - 806] This is how you fillet and plate a whole cooked fish.
[808 - 811] It's super tender, super juicy.
[811 - 812] Bronzino is a small fish.
[812 - 813] So it has really small cheeks,
[813 - 816] but you can actually get in there
[816 - 818] and get that cheek meat out.
[818 - 819] That is super tasty.
[819 - 821] I'm gonna eat it.
[821 - 822] I'm not a fan of the eyeballs
[822 - 824] but you can eat the eyeballs too.
[824 - 826] As you can see, there's nothing to be afraid of
[826 - 828] with these steps and a little bit of practice.
[828 - 830] You can break down your whole fish at home.
[830 - 833] Go cut some fish already. [upbeat music]
[833 - 834] I'm just gonna finish this.
[834 - 836] You guys, clean this up.