Another take on fish cleaning

[Oldsarge]

Fried sardines are an Italian thing but unfortunately the Pacific sardines are in one of their periodic downswings. However, smelt make a pretty good substitute and they're abundant. Too small to spear, of course. This is dip net catching. However, I read about this technique and decided to give it a try. Gut the fish and run the cut all the way to the tail and then spread the fish wide. Cut the head from the flesh but leave it attached to the spine. Hold down the fish with the point of the knife and pull up on the head. The entire spine and ribs easily lifts from the body leaving you a perfectly butterflied, boneless pair of filets. Because fish are so small, a simple dredge in flavored flour readies them for a fry of no more than about 90 seconds. Lay the fried mortal on a slice of toasted, buttered (or aioli-ed) baguette, cover with a few slices of fresh avocado and serve with a squeeze of lime. Hot damn!

 

[Kodama]

Fried sardines are an Italian thing but unfortunately the Pacific sardines are in one of their periodic downswings. However, smelt make a pretty good substitute and they're abundant. Too small to spear, of course. This is dip net catching. However, I read about this technique and decided to give it a try. Gut the fish and run the cut all the way to the tail and then spread the fish wide. Cut the head from the flesh but leave it attached to the spine. Hold down the fish with the point of the knife and pull up on the head. The entire spine and ribs easily lifts from the body leaving you a perfectly butterflied, boneless pair of filets. Because fish are so small, a simple dredge in flavored flour readies them for a fry of no more than about 90 seconds. Lay the fried mortal on a slice of toasted, buttered (or aioli-ed) baguette, cover with a few slices of fresh avocado and serve with a squeeze of lime. Hot damn!

Sounds delicious. Would it work with sardines too you think?


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[Oldsarge]

It absolutely should work on sardines. Those were the species that my Italian cookbook collection (which runs into feet, not inches) was talking about when they gave the recipes. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will work on most fish. It worked on a tiny perch that showed up in one of my smelt packages. And once I work down the contents of my freezer I'll try it on whole fish of larger species. Trout will be first. I wonder, though, if it will work on almost any fish that is long rather than round. Up here in the Pacific Northwest salmon and steelhead opened up like butterflies and pegged to a plank are an ancient way of cooking. Did the Salish use the same method? Investigations are proceeding . . .