Tips on Preparing Fish Fillets for Cooking at Your Gainesville, Florida Apartment

Florida is one of the nation’s best places to get delicious, fresh fish, but simply frying, baking, grilling, or searing any fillet you have isn’t always the best idea. Depending on the type of fish, you may need to do a little bit of preparation before your fillet is ready to be eaten. There are a few key parts of the fillet to consider before cooking, which can significantly affect the outcome of your final dish.

While the inner flesh of the fish is by far the most delicious part, it’s important to pay attention to the outer skin. Many consider crispy cooked fish skin one of the tastiest parts of a fish, while others find it unpleasant, so removing it should be carefully considered. In most cases, a fish’s skin is most easily removed after cooking, so normally it should be left on. However, in dense fish like mahi-mahi, grouper, snook, and swordfish, the skin can become very tough so it should always be removed before cooking using a sharp, non-serrated filet knife.

The next important step is to bone the fish. Though most of the fish bones will be removed in a proper fillet (the definition of “fillet” is, after all, a boneless piece of meat or fish), many fish have small “pin bones” that will be left behind in the meat. By running your fingers over the fillet, you should be able to feel these tiny bones. Find the ends of them near the center of the fillet and use tweezers or thin needle-nose pliers to gently pull them out.

Once the bones have been cleared, the final step in many fish dishes is to remove the “bloodline,” which is the darker portion of the meat with a much stronger “fishy” flavor. Though the difference is unnoticeable in many species, the bloodline meat in mackerel, amberjack, bluefish, and many others is extremely unpalatable to most people. If you’re cooking any of these types of fish, use a sharp fillet knife to remove this darker section of meat running down the center of the fillet.

So the next time you’re looking to whip up a delicious fish dinner in your Gainesville, Florida apartment, be sure to take a little time to prepare your fillet. And if you’re looking for a luxury apartment with spacious kitchens and modern appliances, be sure to contact Bellamay Grand.