Culinary art only at first glance may seem easy and unconstrained. In fact, it consists of hundreds of little things. Only knowing and understanding them, you can cook a good dish. Preparing food is often no less a responsible task than cooking. This is especially true for meat and fish products. Today we will consider such an issue as the technology of primary processing of fish. Grade 6 in schools where there are subjects "Technology" or "Cooking" superficially considers this topic. This means that we can do it with you.
Sequence of primary processing of fish:
- Thaw frozen fish.
- Scaling.
- Releasing fish from dirt and inedible parts (head, fins, tail).
- Plating, or giving the fish the desired shape.
We will consider each stage separately.
Defrosting
Usually, the primary processing of fish begins with thawing. 90% of the fish are caught far from the coast, so it can be on the road for months. So that the fish does not disappear, they freeze it right on the ships, and sometimes even beforehand.gutted. One way or another, such fish must be thawed. It would seem, what could be difficult here? In fact, fish can lose its nutritional value and taste if defrosted improperly.
This procedure is not complicated at all: you need to fill the fish with cold water in a ratio of 1:2 and wait from 1.5 to 4 hours. The thawing time depends on the size of the fish. So that the product does not lose nutrients, the water can be s alted. For 1 kilogram of fish take up to 15 g of s alt.
Defrosting in hot water
To speed up the process, many people fill the fish with warm or even hot water. You can't do this. The fact is that when the fish lies in water, the temperature of which exceeds 40 degrees, some of the proteins denature. Consequently, the amount of moisture that they retain decreases, and the loss of muscle juice during cutting increases. The outer layers of meat become flabby, the smell of stale fish appears.
If the fish is thawed in water with a temperature of up to 20 degrees, then it will absorb moisture and increase in mass by 5-10%. This will compensate for the loss of moisture, which inevitably occurs during the storage of frozen fish. And s alt is added to the water in order to compensate for the loss of minerals that occur when the product is thawed.
Air defrosting
Frozen fillets are recommended to be thawed without water at all and at room temperature. Valuable fish species are also thawed in the air. The fish simply needs to be laid out on the table and covered with plastic wrap to preventmoisture loss.
Re-freezing thawed fish is not recommended as it may lose a lot of juice. At the same time, its taste will decrease sharply. For the same reason, it is undesirable to influence thawed fish mechanically (squeeze, beat, etc.).
Additional processing
River fish is recommended to be processed immediately after defrosting. So that the pike does not smell like a swamp, it must be washed in cold, highly s alty water. If the smell of mud comes from the fish, it is also soaked in a strong saline solution. Burbot and eel are the most troublesome fish species, the skin of which is abundantly covered with mucus. To make it clean and bright, you must also use s alt. The fish is literally smeared with gruel, which includes s alt and ash, mixed in a 1: 1 ratio. After 5-10 minutes, the fish is washed. No trace of slime remains.
Sea fish also often have a specific smell. To get rid of it, cleaned and washed fish should be sprinkled with lemon juice or table vinegar of low concentration 15-20 minutes before the start of heat treatment. Sometimes, to eliminate the unpleasant smell of fish during its cooking, cucumber pickle is added to the water, and when stewing, tomato pickle is added. It would also be useful to add bay leaf, celery and other spices.
Now it is worth proceeding to the next stage, which implies the primary processing of fish - cleaning.
Cleaning fish
Primary processing of scaly fish involves cleaning. It is not recommended to completely defrost fish. In semi-frozencondition, it is much easier to further process. Cleaning is done in different ways, depending on the type of fish and the dish being prepared. However, there are some of the most common cleaning and dressing methods.
The first method is relevant when the fish is served as a whole, “on the bones” or in pieces without removing the bones, fried or boiled. Scales are removed quite simply, especially if the cook has special tools in his arsenal. If they are not available, the scales are cut off the skin with a sharp fillet knife. When doing this, be careful not to cut through the skin. Another option is to scrape off the scales with a grater. To prevent the scales from flying around, it is recommended to place the fish in a tank of water.
Primary processing of fish, a brief description of which does not give a complete picture of the technology, has a lot of nuances. For example, there are quite a few tricks that make it easier to remove scales from fish. They are relevant for some marine fish species, in which the scales are small and dense. For example, to make it easier to clean mackerel and horse mackerel, they are placed in boiling water for 20-30 seconds. The same is done with tench and flounder. If further cooking of fish is supposed, then it can not be cleaned of scales at all. After cooking, she will leave perfectly by herself.
Another trick to make the cleaning process easier is to soak the fish in vinegar. The scales are rubbed with vinegar and left for some time to be absorbed. And so that during cleaning the fish does not slip out of your hands, you can firstdip your fingers in s alt.
Cutting fish
Primary processing of fish after cleaning and washing involves butchering. The first step is to remove the fins. In those species of fish that have particularly sharp fins, in order to avoid cuts, the dorsal fin is removed before removing the scales. To do this, deep incisions are made around it. Then, grabbing it with a napkin, you need to pull, starting from the tail.
Fish weighing up to 200 grams (goby, roach, omul, smelt, mackerel, horse mackerel, trout) is usually used as a whole, without cutting the carcass. After removing the scales in such species, first the dorsal, then the anal fin is cut out. Then an incision is made on the abdomen. Through it, the entrails and gills are taken out, and the head is left. Then the fish is washed.
Plating
The technology of primary processing of large-sized fish involves additional plating. The procedure consists of three stages: removing the dorsal fin, cutting the fillet on one side and cutting the fillet on the other side.
This is done as follows. Cleaned and gutted fish are placed sideways on the table so that the tail is on the left. Then with your left hand you need to press it against the table, and with your right hand make an incision under the pectoral fin to the spine. The flesh is carefully cut from the bone to the very tail. It remains only to separate the finished fillet from the spine and do the same on the other side.
Skin removal
When the fish is destined for cutlets or dumplings, the fillets are skinned. In this case, you can not pre-scrape the scales. It is worth removing the skin, starting from the tail, fromspecial care. The fact is that if the skin breaks through or erupts, it will be much more difficult to remove it. It is more convenient to do this before paving.
When the fish does not need to be layered
In some cases, the primary processing of fish does without plating. It all depends on the task of the cook. If the fish is needed to decorate the table, it is left whole. You can remove the insides without cutting the abdomen. It is enough just to make incisions up to the spine along the edges of the gill covers and, having chopped off the head, pull out the insides that will be attached to it. Then the tail and pectoral fins are cut off, after which the pectoral and anal fins are cut out. The carcass is thoroughly washed and cooked either whole or cut into round pieces. Some types of fish (scad, dory, lychia) have very sharp fins and spines. Because of this, the procedure for cutting them is very difficult. These types of fish are cooked whole after gutting.
Blood clots and bile
The technology of primary processing of fish does not end with gutting. The 6th grade of the school is unlikely to study this, but nevertheless. All types of fish in the abdominal cavity along the ridge are blood clots. And in some (cod fish, saber-fish and others), the abdominal cavity is covered with a film of black-gray color. Blood clots, as well as the film, must be removed. This can be done by scraping with a knife, rubbing with s alt, gauze or a brush.
With extreme caution, you should remove the gallbladder from the fish. If it is torn, then the fish runs the risk of beingspoiled. Bile spilled on meat will give it a bitter taste. Therefore, the places that got bile should be thoroughly washed and rubbed with s alt, or even better, just cut it out.
Why take off your skin?
The technology of primary processing of fish includes the removal of the head (especially marine), its fins, tail and skin. Many do not understand why the skin should be removed. There are types of fish (flounder, sea eel, catfish and others), the skin of which thickens during heat treatment. And in saffron cod, when frying, it shrinks so much that it deforms the meat. In addition, the skin of many fish is poorly absorbed by the human body. There are also species in which, due to saturation with sea s alts, the skin has an unpleasant odor, which manifests itself during heat treatment. Therefore, to be sure of the quality of the cooked dish and its appearance, it is better to remove it.
All thick-skinned and scaleless breeds have very easy skin removal. It is most convenient to do this by dividing the gutted fish into two fillets. The skin is carefully cut with a knife using the same technology as described above.
Selected species
When preparing burbot, eel or large catfish, their skin is cut around the head and removed entirely, separating it from the pulp. It turns out a kind of stocking made of fish skin. And then they start gutting the abdomen by cutting it. After that, the fins are separated and the head and tail are cut off.
Flounder is cleaned a little differently. First, the head is separated with an oblique incision from the eye side. At the same time open the abdomenand remove the insides. Then the scales are scraped off the underside of the fish and the skin is removed from the top. After that, blood clots are scraped off the vertebrae, the fins are cut off and the meat is washed.
Processing of saffron cod starts with an oblique cut of the lower jaw, which also captures part of the abdomen. Through the hole formed, the insides are taken out. Then, cutting the skin along the back, remove it in a continuous layer. After that, they get rid of the fins and wash the fish. It remains only to put spices into it and send it for heat treatment. The tench is dipped in hot and then cold water before processing. This is done in order to make it easier to remove the scales. Then it is scraped off with the blunt side of the knife and the fish is gutted in the usual way.
The lamprey has poisonous mucus, so the fish is carefully sprinkled with s alt and washed before starting to process it. The saber fish goes on sale already gutted. It is not subjected to plating. The fish is simply cut into pieces and cooked. The only thing to do is to clean the fish from the black film and cut off the fin.
Further processing
Now let's take a quick look at how fish dishes are made. The technology for the primary processing of fish is very unified, but many dishes require certain additional procedures. Small-boned fish (pike, pike perch, burbot, umbrina, bluefish, etc.) are used for chopped and sauce dishes, zrazy, cutlets and body. Tender and small-boned fish (trout, flounder, sterlet, mullet, mackerel, etc.) are served boiled, fried or poached, with a variety of sauces. Delicate but bonyfish (carp, crucian carp, ruff, perch, bream) are served only in fried or boiled natural form. Also, all of these species are used to make broth. The primary processing of fish, the description of which we are considering, is only a preparatory stage in the process of preparing a dish. Many more different operations follow.
For soup, the fish is cut across, in oval pieces. And for frying - at an angle of 45 degrees. To make the fish more juicy and fragrant, it is s alted, sprinkled with pepper and put in the cold for five minutes. To prepare stuffed fish (usually pike or pike), it is pre-cooked in a special way. Pike is prepared as follows. After cleaning the fish from scales, they cut off the caudal fin and remove the gills from the head. Then a skin incision is made around the "neck" near the head fins. Putting a finger under the skin, it must be separated from the meat in a circle, then torn off in the direction of the tail. This should be done with extreme caution, because if the skin breaks, the dish will no longer succeed. The meat remaining on it is cut off. So that the fins do not interfere, the skin is carefully cut under them. Then, when the skin is removed, the spine is chopped off near the caudal fin. Thus, the skin remains along with the tail. Then the meat is gutted, washed and minced.
For example, consider the procedure for preparing stuffed pike. From the carcass obtained after skinning, the meat is cut off and chopped in a meat grinder, passing through a medium-sized grate. Add to meat ahead of time.bread soaked in milk, s alt and pepper. All this is stirred or even once again passed through a meat grinder. Butter (melted or mashed), finely chopped greens, garlic and browned onions are added to the minced meat. All this is carefully ground to get a homogeneous mass, which is stuffed with pike skin. At the same time, stuffing the minced meat should not be too tight so that the shell does not burst. Then the head is sewn to the stuffed skin.
Types of primary processing of fish depend on the characteristics of a particular species. Pike perch is prepared differently for stuffing than pike. Having rid the fish of scales, chop off the caudal and lateral fins. Then the gills are removed from the heads and the fish are washed with cold water. The next step is to remove the skin. To do this, the fish is placed on its side, across the table, with its head towards itself. Pressing it with one hand, the second makes an incision along the body, from tail to head. In this case, you need to try not to leave meat on the dorsal fin. Then the operation is repeated, turning the fish over to the other side.
After that, putting the fish with its belly on the table, using a large knife, remove the dorsal fin. Start doing it from the side of the tail. Then you need to cut the meat from the spine and cut through the costal bones. After that, having cut the spine near the head and tail, it is removed. After this, offal is removed. Pike perch is thoroughly washed and placed on the table with the belly down. Now, from the inside of the fillet, you need to cut the costal bones. It is important that the abdomen remains intact.
When the meat is completely freed from the bones, alongthe entire fillet is made a beveled incision so that you can bend the meat to the outside of the back. Then the fish is stuffed and the minced fillet is covered. It remains only to tie the fish across in several places (usually about 5) with twine and send it to a deep baking sheet, greased with oil.
Perch and cod are also stuffed. Carcasses are scaled, gutted and heads removed. In this case, the primary processing of fish is complicated by the fact that from the inside of the abdominal cavity, it is necessary to cut through the costal bones along the spine and remove them without damaging the skin of the fish. You also need to remove the spine. Putting the fish, freed from the bones, with its back down, a part of the pulp is cut out of it, which will go to minced meat. So we learned what the primary processing of fish is. The photo helped us to deal with this issue more easily.
Waste
So, we already know what the primary processing of fish with a bone skeleton is, it remains only to figure out what to do with waste. After butchering the fish, the following waste remains: head, caviar, milk, skin, fat, bones, fins and scales. Some of them can be used. The head of oceanic fish is not used in cooking, which cannot be said about the head of river species. Such heads, along with bones, fins and skin, are used to boil broths.
Sturgeon heads can be found on sale. Before cooking, they need to be scalded, cut and cut out the gills. After an hour and a half cooking, the meat and cartilage are easily separated from the bones. Such meat is used for cooking soups, jellies, minced meat and other things. Cartilage is boiled until soft andused for pickles and sauces in shredded form.
Caviar and milk of the river, as well as some types of ocean fish, are a valuable product. They can be s alted, marinated and served as cold appetizers. Caviar is used to make pastes, minced meat and casseroles. It contains a lot of proteins and fats, as well as vitamins A and D. However, it is important to remember that the caviar of some fish is poisonous. These fish include: barbel, osman, khramulya and marinka.
Primary processing of fish, a brief description of which we reviewed today, is a practically waste-free production. Even scales are used in cooking. It is used in the preparation of jellied dishes. To do this, the scales need to be washed, poured with water in a ratio of 1: 3 and boiled for two hours. Then the broth is filtered, cooled and sent to the refrigerator. The resulting jelly is further added to aspic dishes.
Finally, it is worth noting that cut fish should not be stored for a long time. Therefore, it is advisable to engage in butchering shortly before the start of the cooking process.
Conclusion
Today we figured out what the primary processing of fish is. As you can see, this procedure only at first glance seems simple and unconstrained. In fact, this is a very responsible process. It is not for nothing that it is called “Technology of primary processing of fish”. Grade 6 (FSES confirms) schools consider this issue superficially. And we delved into it in more detail.
