How to clean a pike in the kitchen correctly

In order to prepare delicious and healthy fish dishes you need to know how to clean the pike so that it does not litter the kitchen with fine scales and do not injure your hands. Having the necessary knowledge and skills, it is not difficult to do this. There are only a few features of how you can quickly release the predator from the scales and divide the carcass to prepare a particular dish.

Preparatory work for

In warm weather, it is better to clean fish where possible, on the street, where there are no problems from scales and splashes flying apart. In the kitchen, before cleaning the pike, you must prepare the place and necessary accessories in advance so that you do not have to wash your hands several times during the work.

1. With the cutting table and the gas stove standing next to it it is necessary to remove absolutely all utensils and accessories, the stove and next-standing furniture should be covered with paper or polyethylene.
2. Completely release the sink, prepare a cork so that you can collect water in the sink( or use a large capacity).
3. Prepare a cutting board of sufficient size. It is desirable that it was made of plastic or glass. The fish smell is absorbed into the tree, which then will be difficult to get rid of.
4. To prevent the board from slipping on the table top during operation, it is possible to place a wet napkin or an old towel under it.
5. You will need a cutting knife, preferably with a wide blade. Pike can be cleaned with the same knife, but it is more convenient to use a special cleaner that you can buy at a hardware store. Best if it is with a container for scales.
6. Wearing working gloves( at least on the left) will make it easier to hold the fish and reduce the likelihood of injury.
7. You can make a couple of pinch of large salt. If it pours the tail of a pike, it will not slip out of the hands during work.

It is desirable to carry out these preparatory works when cutting any uncrushed fish.

How to properly clean the pike

Pike does not have such sharp spines on the fins as perch, ruff or pike-perch. But this is a predatory fish. In her mouth, several rows of needles curled inward are located in her mouth, which can be seriously injured. You have to be careful, removing the gills, because they also have sharp spikes.

With certain skills, you can quickly clean the pike:

• In the beginning it is necessary to wash out the fish well, in order to wash away the dirt and mucus that has accumulated.
• To not fumble in the kitchen, the pike is best cleaned underwater. To do this, you must half fill the sink or suitable large dishes, immerse the fish in it and clean under water.
• Hold the fish by the tail, a knife with a wide blade to hook movements against scales pike cleaned from all sides. In this case, the knife must move at an acute angle to the body of the fish. In this case, the scales practically do not scatter, but lie on the blade of the knife. Even better - use a special cleaning.
• Next, remove the fins. This can be done with a knife, cutting them in the direction from the tail to the head, or kitchen scissors.
• Cut the cartilage between the head and belly, after which it is necessary to open the belly gently. To do this, hold down the pike head to him, a sharp knife tip should be( should not make a deep puncture, as this may damage the gallbladder) to pierce the skin around the head and, holding the blade at a slight angle, cut the belly to the anus, trying minimally move deep inside. If everything is done correctly, the contents of the entrails will not contaminate the abdominal cavity. In addition, if there is caviar inside the fish, it will also not be damaged and can be used to make delicious delicacies.
• Remove the giblets from the anus to the head. Going to the head, we must try to separate the gills, pruning them with the tip of the knife near the head and the side cartilages. Then the giblets are freely removed from the carcass together with the gills.
• A large pike needs to examine the liver. If the gallbladder is not damaged, then you can separate the liver and use it for food.
• At the last stage, remove the air bubble( white film along the ridge) and blood clots under it.
• It remains to rinse the belly and rinse the pike itself from the outside.

As can be seen from the description, there is nothing complicated in cleaning the pike.

It should be borne in mind that fresh pike is cleaned better than some time in the air. Frozen fish should be cleaned immediately, as soon as the scales and skin are thawed, without waiting for the pike to completely roll back.

Separate fillet

Pike meat produces excellent fish minced meat. In addition, the pieces of this fish can be baked in batter. In both cases, you need a clean filet. It should be noted that it is not difficult to separate the pike and separate the bones. If you have the skills to do this you can very quickly - for a couple of minutes. And other types of fish are cut similarly. The procedure is as follows:

1. The head can be separated from the trunk to make it more convenient to work, although it is not necessary.
2. carcase should be put on the back side to him and, holding the carcass, sharp knife, make an incision along the spine, avoiding the dorsal fin on top( when the spinal bones would fall below a knife blade).
3. With a few light movements, the blade of the knife should be sloughed in the upper half of the carcase until the ribs are felt under it. Care should be taken not to cut them.
4. With the knife plane parallel to the ribs, we remove the pulp from them.
5. After separating the fillets in the upper half, we raise his hand and by placing the blade parallel to the section plane and perpendicular to the ridge, cut the flesh from the tail part.
6. Turn the carcass and similarly remove the fillet from the second half.

You do not need to throw your head and ridge. They are useful for cooking soup, fish salted fish or broth.

There are a lot of small bones in the pike, but you can easily get rid of them. When preparing forcemeat, the meat must be twisted twice in a meat grinder, then mixed with onions, salt and let stand for several minutes. There will not be bones in cooked cutlets.

If it is intended to cook the fillets with chunks, then a few minutes before cooking they must be sprinkled with lemon juice and salt. Salt and juice will dissolve small pits.

There is practically no fat in pike, at the same time it is rich in protein. The meat of this fish is not only very useful, but also very tasty. Pike has a specific smell, sharp enough, especially if the predator is caught in the lake. For this reason, many people do not prepare it. But the smell of mud is easy to get rid of. It is enough to sprinkle the cut carcass with lemon juice and after a few minutes it will disappear.

If everything is done correctly and accurately, then delicious dishes made from pike can surprise and please family members and guests.

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