How to skin a pike and cut the fish. How to clean pike for cutlets How to fillet pike

Pike, like carp, is a freshwater fish. It is valued for its incredibly tasty meat. Some people refuse to prepare it due to the lack of skinning skills and do not know how to cut pike. It is especially important not to damage the entire roasting carcass. There are available and simple ways cutting freshwater fish, which will not require much time and effort.

Cleaning and cutting of pike carcass

Pike has rather dense and hard scales, which can be quite difficult to clean using the usual method. To avoid damaging the fish, it is important to know how to skin a pike. To remove scales from fish, you will need a sharp knife and a cutting area, which can be a deep sink.

After removing the scales, you need to wash the fish and dry it with paper towels. After this, you can begin to remove the insides. To begin this procedure, an incision is made starting from the bones behind the gills on the left side of the head to the spine. The cut should be made carefully so as not to damage gallbladder. After this, an incision is made in a horizontal direction at the anus and the intestines are removed.

Only after this can the head be completely removed, especially carefully cutting it off near the gallbladder. The head is separated from the body along with the intestines. The carcass is cut along the belly, the films are removed and washed. In this state it is ready for filleting.

Method of cutting a carcass into fillets

A special sharp knife will help you fillet the carcass beautifully. It is applied to the ridge of the fish and drawn horizontally along it. The same action is carried out on the other side of the carcass. Divide the carcass into two halves. The backbone with leftover meat is usually used to make broth.

All that remains is to remove the skin from the fillet parts. In this case, inexperienced fishing enthusiasts often do not know how to remove the skin from a pike.

This can be done using the same knife. It is pressed very tightly to the skin and passed along the loin. There may be some meat left on the skin, which is quite natural.

Removing skin from fish using a stocking

There are several ways to remove skin from pike. You can find a lot of advice on this matter, including how to skin a pike with a stocking. For many, this method is the simplest and most convenient. This process is carried out in several stages:

In some cases, it is necessary to cut up fish directly after catching it in the wild. In this case, you can clean it in a similar way and bake it entirely over a fire. To do this, coat the carcass with clay and place it on coals.

Pike dishes

Fish dishes often become a decoration festive table. Pike can be used to prepare many delicious and original dishes. One such recipe is stuffed pike.

The recipe for its preparation is quite simple and you can take the most affordable products: fish (2 pieces), onions (1 piece), carrots (1 piece), White bread, chicken egg (1 piece), spices to taste. The dish is prepared in several stages:

Bake the fish in a preheated oven at 180 degrees, about 40-50 minutes. To prevent the dish from falling apart before serving, you need to leave the fish on the baking sheet to cool naturally.

Cutlets made from the meat of this fish can be no less tasty. They turn out unusually tender and tasty. Available products are used for cooking: pike fillet (500 grams), lard (100 grams), white bread (2-3 slices), milk (100 grams), onion (1 head), egg (1 piece).

Breadcrumbs are needed to coat the cutlets before frying. Spices are added to the minced meat according to taste and desire. For frying you need sunflower oil. Preparation takes place in several stages:

Place the finished cutlets on a preheated frying pan. Fry them for a few minutes until golden brown. For better steaming of the cutlets, you can cover the pan with a lid for a few minutes.

Compared to other inhabitants of reservoirs, pike is one of the most delicious freshwater fish. To decorate the holiday table, you can prepare a wide variety of pike dishes.

Attention, TODAY only!

Question: “How to cut pike into cutlets?” is asked by every housewife who is faced with such a need for the first time. Of course, if there is a competent mentor nearby, then such a problem can be solved quite quickly. What should those who are left alone with the fish do?

There are several options here:
1. You can carefully study the video on this topic, but this method is not always convenient;
A person who fillets a fish for the first time works much slower than the professionals who usually produce training videos. As a result, the video constantly has to be stopped or rewinded.

2. you can call relatives, friends and acquaintances;
It’s also not the best option, since some “well-wishers” may start making cutting jokes, and some are completely unable to explain.

3.you can study not only video materials, but also text information, which is most often supplemented with step-by-step pictures.
Perhaps this is the most optimal way, because you can first carefully study the text material, and only then begin to visualize new knowledge.

Why pike?

Indeed, why do many people choose pike meat for cooking, even though you can easily get hurt when cutting this fish? In fact, the answer is obvious: pike is a real storehouse of various microelements useful for the human body.

In addition, pike meat is almost pure protein, because 100 g of product contains only 1.1 g of fat.

Also, do not forget that pike is a “royal” fish. Accordingly, it has always been “prestigious” to serve it on the table.

At the same time, almost anything can be prepared from pike: stuffed fish, cutlets, pies, jelly, fish soup. Tasty, healthy and beautiful, what more could you ask for?

Pike is a predator, average length whose body reaches up to 1 meter, and the average weight is up to 8 kg.

Step-by-step “recipe” for cutting pike

First and foremost, future chefs should accept this simple truth: The first cutting of pike and cleanliness in the kitchen are incompatible things. Therefore, put on a kitchen apron, rubber gloves, prepare several sharp knives and a wooden cutting board.

So let's get started:

take a fresh fish by the tail and begin to peel off its scales (movements from the tail to the head);
cut off the head of the pike, making cuts slightly further than its gills;
cut off the fins;
make a cut along the belly of the fish (move from head to tail), carefully remove all the insides;
rinse the fish in cold water, dry with a paper towel;
place the pike on its back, open it;
cut off one half of the fish from the ridge with a sharp knife, repeat the action with the other half;

Advice! Don’t throw away the pike head, fins and spine; you can use them to make delicious fish soup.

take regular eyebrow tweezers, place the fillet with the skin in front of you and remove the bones remaining in it (this way you need to clean two halves);
fix the flesh with your hand, insert a knife between the skin of the fish and its meat, smoothly cut from the tail to the head;
separate the fillet from the skin.

That's it, the pike cutting process is complete. All that's left to do is clean up after yourself. By the way, to get rid of the corrosive fishy smell, use lemon.

Just cut it in half and rub the juice on your knives, board and hands. After this, go over all surfaces with detergent.

So, in fact, cleaning and cutting up pike is not so difficult, you just need to have a little patience and a great desire to amaze your loved ones with a new culinary masterpiece!

Pike is full of unsaturated fatty acids and the most useful micro- and macroelements. Delicacies are prepared from it, which rarely anyone refuses. But, as always, there is a “but” - preliminary cutting. This process does not evoke enthusiasm, since it is troublesome and requires patience. After all, you need to know how to properly clean, gut and cut up pike.

Useful properties of pike

Pike - freshwater fish from the pike family. It grows up to 150 cm in length, its weight is from 2 to 35 kg. It is valued for its satiety and low calorie content. It is best to choose fish weighing 2–2.5 kg for the table, as its meat is tender and juicy. The most popular dish is stuffed pike.

This fish has many beneficial properties.

It has low calorie content: 100 g of meat contains only 84 calories and up to 3% fat.
Is a natural antiseptic. Natural antiseptics are much more useful than chemical ones, as they help cope with various infectious diseases, strengthen the immune system.
Contains many vitamins, macro- and microelements.

Pike is useful and delicious fish, which is available to everyone

Content of vitamins, macro- and microelements in 100 g of pike meat - table

Vitamins
Vitamin A	0.01 mg
Vitamin B1	0.11 mg
Vitamin B2	0.14 mg
Vitamin B6	0.2 mg
Vitamin B9	8.8 mcg
Vitamin C	1.6 mg
Vitamin E	0.7 mg
Vitamin PP	3.5 mg
Macro- and microelements
Calcium	40 mg
Magnesium	35 mg
Sodium	40 mg
Potassium	260 mg
Phosphorus	200 mg
Chlorine	60 mg
Sulfur	210 mg
Iron	0.7 mg
Zinc	1 mg
Iodine	50 mcg
Copper	110 mcg
Manganese	0.05 kg
Chromium	55 mcg
Fluorine	25 mcg
Molybdenum	4 mcg
Cobalt	20 mcg
Nickel	6 mcg

How to easily clean a pike using boiling water and lemon - useful tips

To reduce the time spent cleaning fish and do everything quickly and easily, use these helpful tips.

Cleaning live pike is faster and more convenient. A frozen carcass must be cleaned immediately after the scales have thawed.
It is comfortable to work with rubber gloves and put on cotton gloves on top. This way, the risk of damage will be minimized, and the pike itself will not slide.
The knife must be sharpened well.
If the fish has a characteristic river smell, you can wipe it with lemon juice.
To speed up the process, the pike must be scalded with boiling water. You can also put it in a bowl and fill it with warm water and vinegar.

The correct and easy way to clean, gut and cut fresh fish

If it is possible to clean the fish outside and not in the apartment, it is better to do this, because there will be no problems with cleaning the kitchen due to scales and splashes. When cleaning pike in the kitchen, you will need to perform a number of other steps, regardless of whether the pike you are using is frozen or fresh.

Remove all kitchen utensils from the table where you will be cutting fish, and cover the stove and furniture with plastic wrap or newspapers.
Empty the sink of dishes and clean it. You will need to soak and wash the pike in it. A large bowl will also work.
Prepare a large glass or plastic cutting board. Wooden is not suitable, as odors are absorbed into it. To prevent the kitchen board from moving on the table, you need to place a damp cloth under it.
It is necessary to use a pre-sharpened narrow knife or a special tool for cleaning fish.
To comply with safety rules, wear gloves - they will protect your hands from damage and allow you to more firmly hold slippery fish during the cleaning process.
Pour salt into a small box. You will need it to powder the tail. Thanks to this, it will not slip out during operation.

Tools for cleaning and cutting pike must be prepared in advance

How to remove mucus, clean and gut fresh and live pike

When cleaning fish, you need to be careful, as you can get hurt on its teeth or gills.

Wash the pike well under the tap to remove mucus.
Fill half a sink or bowl with water and place the fish in it.
Pour boiling water over the carcass. Not all at once, but gradually. First, clean one side, and then the other.
If you carefully pour boiling water over the pike, this will make the process of removing the scales easier.
When cleaning, hold the fish by the tail and remove the scales in the direction from the tail to the head using a knife or a special device.
You need to remove the scales from the pike in the direction from the tail to the head.
Remove fins with scissors or a knife.
It is convenient to cut off all the fins of the pike with a knife or scissors.

Cut the cartilage located between the stomach and head, make an incision on the stomach. You need to put the fish with its head towards you and use a knife to make a puncture near the head, cut the cut line all the way to the tail. The puncture should be shallow so as not to cause damage internal organs, otherwise the abdominal cavity will be contaminated with the contents of the viscera.

For cleansing abdominal cavity pike you need to make a cut with a knife from head to tail

Carefully remove the giblets and remove the gills using a knife.
You can carefully remove the entrails from the pike using a narrow and long knife.
If the fish is very large, the liver can be carefully separated from the gall bladder and prepared from it into fried liver with onions and bacon, salads and other dishes.
As a last resort, remove the air bubble and blood clots underneath it. This is a white film that is located along the ridge.
Thoroughly rinse the inside and outside of the pike.

How to fillet and mince fish

Most housewives know that pike fillets make amazing minced fish for cutlets and juicy battered dishes. To make them really tasty, you should pay attention to the procedure when cutting pike into fillets.

Remove the head from the carcass.
Place the fish with its back to itself, make a neat cut along the ridge. Perform these steps several times until the cut reaches the ribs, being careful not to damage the bones of the ribs, and do not cut the fillet along with the bones.
Raise the knife and carefully cut the fillet from the pike ribs.
If necessary, remove the fin and pull out the bones using tweezers.
Lastly, remove the skin. The piece is placed meat side up, after which a knife is inserted between the fillet and the skin and the skin is carefully cut off at an angle. You need to hold the skin with your hands.

To properly fillet a pike, work must begin with a cut on the ridge

Frozen fish: how to gut, peel scales and skin

It’s not always possible to enjoy fresh pike, and then you have to deal with frozen fish. To properly clean it of scales and remove the skin, you will need:

cutting board;
forceps;
sharp knife.

Frozen pike is also suitable for preparing delicious fish dishes

Operating procedure:

Use a sharp knife to cut off all the fins.
You need to cut pike fins with a sharp knife.
Make a deep cut in the head area. Then you need to cut the belly and back from head to tail.
To clean the abdominal cavity of the pike, incisions are made on the belly
Using pliers, pick up the edge of the skin and remove it from the fish.

Pike is a lean fish, so it can be classified as dietary products nutrition. Dishes made from fish caught in late autumn are especially healthy and tasty. The greatest nutritional value has a pike weighing no more than 4 kg. The meat of old fish weighing 8 kg or more is tough and inedible and smells like a swamp. Pike is used for frying, stuffing, preparing broths, soups, cutlets; it is salted, smoked and pickled.

Fresh pike is covered with a layer of mucus. It needs to be removed; to do this, rinse the fish under running water. To prevent the pike from slipping out, you can put rubber gloves on your hands and construction cotton gloves on top, which you can then throw away or wash. Using gloves will reduce the risk of being cut by the fins, gills or teeth of the fish.

Pike can be cut in 2 ways. Place the fish on a cutting board. Cut off the dorsal and ventral fins and tail. Make a shallow cut along the belly from head to tail. Make a cut on the back. Grab the skin from the tail side, using a knife to help. Hold the carcass with your left hand, and with your right pull the skin and remove it. Cut off the head, cut the belly, remove the entrails.

You need to cut the abdomen and pull out the contents carefully, otherwise you can damage the gallbladder. In this case, green liquid will flow out. If it gets on the meat, the dish will taste bitter. To prevent this from happening, rinse the fish thoroughly under running water. cold water. Make a deep cut on the back of the carcass, it should reach the ridge. Remove the meat from the bones on both sides of the cut. You should end up with 2 pieces of fillet and a backbone with thick bones.

The second method of cutting pike is as follows. Cut off the fins and tail. Cut the belly and remove the entrails. Make 2 transverse deep cuts from the head to the ridge, but do not cut off the head.

Place the fish with its belly facing away from you. Hold the pike by the head with your left hand, and with your right hand, turn the blade along the table in the direction opposite to the hand that is holding the fish. Carefully cut the pike along the spine. If at some point the knife gets stuck and won't go any further, slightly change the angle of the blade. You should get fillet with skin.

Turn the pike over and position it with its back facing away from you. The fish should lie with its ridge on the cutting board. Holding the pike by the head, use a knife to separate the meat from the spine. Rinse the resulting fillet under running cool water to remove dirt and blood clots. Trim the ribs from the fillet.

Remove the skin. To do this, place the fish on a cutting board, skin side down, tail end facing you. At the tail, cut the meat down to the skin, and then, holding the skin with your left hand, move the knife along the board, cutting off the fillet. The fillet can be cooked whole or made into mince for cutlets. It is recommended not to throw away the head (without gills), fins and spine, but to use it for preparing fish soup.

Fresh pike is covered with a thin layer of mucus. In order to make it more convenient to process the fish carcass, you will first have to rinse it thoroughly under running water. So it won’t slip out, and it’s more pleasant to work, right?

If your fish is still whole (not gutted), then next you should remove all the insides. To do this, you need to carefully, without going too deep, cut its abdomen from the tail to the head. And then take out all the contents, trying not to damage the gall sac - by the way, it is located closer to the head. Then, again, rinse the fish carcass from the inside, thoroughly removing blood clots and films.

Now you have to scrape off the scales. Those. separate it from the fish against the direction of “growth” with a sharp knife (or a special fish knife, if one is available), starting from the tail and gradually moving towards the head. As soon as you finish cleaning, do not be lazy and again wash the fish from the remnants of stuck scales.

From the head, fins and spinal bone with tail (we will separate them a little later) you can easily cook fish broth later. Just don’t forget to cut out the gills from the head and take out the eyes. If this is not done, the broth will turn out cloudy.

Well, we already have a beautiful cleaned fish carcass in front of us. Now you can proceed to the last stage - separating the fillet from the spine.

Turning the fish onto its back, open it and carefully cut off the rib bones from the spine. Next, with a sharp knife, cut through the flesh along the entire spine to the back and cut off.

Then we cut off the spine itself from the second half of the carcass in the same way.
Now you can cut off the remaining fins and rib bones. I just pull out these bones with tweezers - I got used to it, this way more meat is preserved.

I also use tweezers to remove the thin internal bones from the fillet. They can be easily felt when stroking with your fingers.

These are the two beautiful fillets with skin that we end up with.