How To Cut And Peel Herring From Bones At Home + Video

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

How to cut and peel lightly salted or raw herring

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: fillet sliced with onion and butter, or in salads, for example, in the traditional “herring under a fur coat”. True, not everyone likes to cut herring; it is believed that this is a difficult and painstaking exercise. We will tell you about several effective and easy ways to cut herring, and this task will not scare you anymore.

Content

• 1 Preparation for cutting
• 2 Traditional way

• 3 Cleaning the carcass from bones in different ways

  • 3.1 On fillets
  • 3.2 Cleaning in one stroke
  • 3.3 Punching shear method
  • 3.4 Another easy way
• 4 Video: quick cutting of herring

Preparation for cutting

Experts recommend buying a whole, uncut herring. This way you can easily check its quality. Usually attention is paid to the gills and eyes.

1. The color of the gills should be dark red. A darker color indicates that the herring is already stale and unsuitable for food. Another sign of freshness is that the gills are resilient and do not fall apart.
2. The fish's eyes should not be cloudy and falling out of their orbits.

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 slightly salted herring. The spicier the ambassador, the more likely it is that the manufacturer hid unpleasant odors with it.

There should be no spots, cuts or holes on the covers of high-quality fresh or slightly salted herring. After breaking the integrity of the skin, oxidative processes occur inside the carcass, which are invisible from the outside, and the fish begins to deteriorate quickly.

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

So, the herring has been bought, and you need to start cutting. To do this, you will need:

• cutting board;
• sharp knife;
• tweezers or forceps to remove small bones;
• cellophane bags for waste.

It will be better if you have a separate board for cutting fresh or slightly 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 put a sheet of cardboard, paper, or a thick napkin on the board (this is even more convenient to clean up waste). But don't post the newspaper under any circumstances! Printing ink will definitely enter your stomach along with the herring, and this is harmful to the body.

It is also advisable to have a separate knife. It is good if you have a set of knives, among which there is a special carving knife for fish.

If you have long nails, you can easily remove small bones from a carcass. If not, arm yourself with tweezers or eyebrow tweezers.

Traditional way

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

   

   Cut off herring head

2. Then cut off the tail.

   

   After, separate the tail

3. Take the herring by the top fin. Cut it off carefully.

   

   Cut off the dorsal fin

4. Place the herring back to 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 milk or caviar inside the carcass. Many people love these products: they can be eaten simply with bread, or you can cook some original dish, for example, a pate. In any case, thoroughly clean the intestines from the milk and caviar.

   

   Remove entrails while helping yourself with a knife

6. Be sure to remove the lower fins from the belly of the herring. 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, from both sides.

   

   Remove the bottom fins

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

   

   Rinse the herring with cold running water

8. Place the herring on a plate or board with the back facing you. Make a depression with your left thumb where the fin was cut. Move with slight effort to the top of the carcass, severing 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 back with the back facing you. Pick up the edge of the skin from the side of the tail and gently pull it towards you so that it does not break, but comes off completely.

   

   Peel off one side

10. Repeat on the other side of the fish.

    

    Repeat on the other side

Done! The herring is peeled and you can serve it to the table.

Cleaning carcasses from bones in different ways

You can simply cut the peeled herring into slices, arrange on a plate and serve as it is. But it's better to take a little time and remove all bones from the carcass. There are some simple methods that will make this quick and easy.

On fillet

1. Take the prepared carcass and begin to separate the ridge. Separate some meat near the tail for a comfortable grip. Grasp it, and, holding the rest of the carcass on the plate with your free hand, gently pull upward in a forward motion. The bones will gradually come out of the herring meat. The fresher the fish, the easier the bones will come off.
2. Flip the carcass over to the other side, with the ridge up. With the same movements, stretch the ridge along with the bones.
3. Starting at the top, select the remaining bones and black films from the inside of the fillet, and so on to the tail.

This way you can prepare herring fillets for salads, especially for the beloved “Herring under a fur coat”. All you have to do is cut the meat into suitable pieces.

Raw herring can be peeled in the same way. True, this will be a little more difficult: the ambassador slightly softens the meat and allows it to come off the bone more easily

Cleaning in one stroke

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

Grasp the tail of the herring with both hands. Her side will be directed at you. Tear the tail slightly with your hands, spreading them slightly. Hold the herring very tightly, otherwise it will slip out of your fingers.

Holding the carcass in front of you with both hands, "roll it over" towards you so that the herring makes 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, in one hand there will be a back with a ridge, and in the other - two belly stripes. Now it remains to separate the back from the bones.

Herring fillet can be used for salads, for example, Herring under a fur coat

It is better not to do this trick with fresh raw herring. It is unlikely that it will be possible 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 in this way, then the method is quite suitable; all the same, the meat will need to be cut into small pieces.

Punching method

This method does not completely remove the bones from the fillets, 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 a cut on the back of the carcass. Take it in your hands so that the fingers of the palm are inside the abdomen, and the thumb is in the dorsal incision.
2. Squeeze your fingers and separate part of the fillet from the ridge with a pushing motion. Continue doing this until half of the fillet is completely separated. If you do the process carefully and carefully, most of the bones will remain on the ridge.
3. Do the same with the second half, but now hold the ridge with one hand, and make a pushing motion with the other.

This method is also perfectly applied on fresh, well-defrosted herring.

Another easy way

Place your thumb at the dorsal fin 2–3 cm deep. Move it carefully towards the tail, dividing the carcass of fresh or slightly salted herring in half.

Take the loose fillet on the tail and pull towards the head. When you separate one half, move on to the other. Slide your finger under the ridge and separate the tail of the fillet. Pull the ridge away from the fish. Now you just have to remove the bones from the fillets.

Video: quick cutting herring

youtube.com/watch?v=n8vubVpKS3c

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