Cook along

let's cook cheap fish together, loosely following this recipe to make this more engaging I'll wait some time between my posts, but know that I, and also my family, were hungry so I cooked and ate everything already, this is just a report

so, first off, let's clean the fish
I got some info from youtube videos, then I found myself having to actually clean fishes and there I was at loss
by the 4th fish I was a pro (figuratively)
the 5th fish really was the only one that I feel I deboned really good
the 6th was deboned nicely but not that nicely
also I'll probably have to sharpen my knife again because of my trials and errors

ok nigga i cant read pls tell me what this thread is about

>also my family

Holy shit, you shouldn't be reproducing, OP.

remove the skin from the fish and neatly place it on a tray so that you can conveniently take pictures of it to show everyone
me preparing fish
come on it's the first time I clean fish give me a break

then find tweezers or something similar and a little girl and have her help you remove the fishbones from the fish you cut

>come on it's the first time I clean fish give me a break
What species is that? Not that I'm complimenting your lack of skill, but I've dealt with one fucking fish that did this before, a dark-skinned south-east asian monstrosity.

If you're just filleting I wish I could show you in person because it's really easy for most fish. Using a knife that is preferably flexible and thing, somewhere along 5-6 inches long, cut under the pectoral fin at an angle towards the head until you read solid bone. Slide the fish around so the dorsal fin is facing you and run or carefully saw your knife along your side of the fin from the initial cut to through the tail.

Then move the blade in gentle strokes through the ribs until you've reached the bottom. If you want skinless, pin the tail down with your fingernail and shave the meat off in one stroke, running your knife down what used to be the head-section at a very slight angle with a fair amount of pressure.

put together unsweetened yogurt (I used some 180g), milk (some 60ml), some lemon juice (not sure, probably some 90ml) while stirring, and add the lemon juice slowly else the milk will curdle, taste it, it should taste like plain yogurt but more astringent and definitely less acidic than lemon juice, and the consistency should be between that of yogurt and that of milk
add then 2tsp (filled to the brink) of honey and mix everything well, put the fish in and let everything marinade for about 15 minutes
it was on sale as european bass aka branzino
thanks a bunch for the explanation
>run or carefully saw your knife along your side of the fin from the initial cut to through the tail.
am I understanding correctly that this would remove some skin and the dorsal fin?
if so, what would be the advantage of this instead of simply removing meat from both sides of the fish and leaving the dorsal fin there?

marinade picture

>am I understanding correctly that this would remove some skin and the dorsal fin?
This would remove all the scale, skin, and meat from one side of the body. You need to flip it and repeat the process.

I mean for you to leave the dorsal fin there. Sorry if I mistyped; I am quite tired, ill, and dehydrated. I was just trying to describe a better way. I recommend you analyze my summary and take it as advice rather than a lesson because I can't really teach through words.

Also, look for an egg pouch next time. It will look like a plump little V-shaped pouch and is pure ecstasy when batter-fried.

put some breadcrumbs and a bit of black pepper on a plate or tray, dip the fish cuts in the breadcrumbs and put in a pan with little oil on low-mid heat
while it's in the pan salt it, about a pinch per side of fish
also while the fish is marinading cut some cherry tomatoes in fourths and some black olives in half and put them together
the cherry tomatoes I had at hand weren't really ripe so to make them a bit softer I put them in another pan with some oil, covered, on mid heat, together with the olives who didn't change much - salt those as well and add the marinade liquid
you may add the marinade liquid to the mix without passing them through the pan if they're soft enough on their own
got it, will surely do better next time, thanks for the advice, and get well soon if you can manage
will also look for an egg pouch next time