In this episode you’ll learn how to fillet a fish from Sam Peterson, a fisheries biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. We’ve heard from listeners that being handed a whole fish—one with the head still on and insides still inside—can be intimidating. We’ll talk to Sam about his job, his hobby of microfishing, then he’ll break the fish filleting process down. Marie even tries her hand at filleting a walleye, and then we get into different filleting techniques for different species of fish. For the Fish-o-Licious part of our podcast, Marie cooks a new recipe called, “Oh My, Arctic Char!” It’s really simple and easy and can be used on almost any kind of fish.
Sam Peterson, ready to fillet a walleye. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Step One: Make a cut down the fish’s neck, just behind the pectoral fins. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea GrantStep Two: Cut along the fish’s back until you reach the end of the ribs. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea GrantStep Three: Once you reach the end of the ribs, puncture the knife all the way through the belly and keep cutting until you reach the tail. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea GrantStep Four: Leave the fillet attached to the tail and cut the fillet off the skin, moving your knife parallel to the cutting board surface. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea GrantStep Five: Admire your fillet! Repeat the process for the other side of the fish. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Black crappies await filleting on a plate. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Sam Peterson fillets an Arctic char. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea GrantAn Arctic char fillet, ready for cooking. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea GrantIngredients for the “Oh My, Arctic Char!” recipe. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea GrantAn oven-cooked char fillet. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
