Article: Lay your fish flat on a cutting surface. Locate the fish’s gills and move your knife 1–2 in (2.5–5.1 cm) behind them. With your blade facing downwards, turn your knife slightly towards the head. Brace the fish’s body with your nondominant hand while you cut at a 15-degree angle down to the spine. Flip the fish over and repeat the cut on the opposite side.  If the head isn’t fully removed by your 2 cuts, you can grip it and twist it off to fully remove it. Some fish, like trout, are traditionally cooked with the head still attached. With the head removed, take a steak knife and rest the blade across the fish’s body so that your blade is perpendicular to the spine. Place your knife 2–3 inches (5.1–7.6 cm) from the opening at the neck and slide the knife back and forth along the same line until you’ve cut all the way through the fish’s body to create a steak.  Repeat this process leaving 2–3 inches (5.1–7.6 cm) of flesh between each cut to steak an entire fish. The difference between a steak and a filet is whether or not the bone was cut through. A steak is a cut through the bone, while a filet is cut around the bone. Put your finger on the blunt edge of your filet knife and poke your knife through the back of the fish, right above the spine. Slide your filet knife sideways through the bottom of the fish. Maneuver the knife slowly through the entire length of your catch, keeping your filet knife parallel to the spine. Keep your knife 1⁄8–1⁄2 inch (0.32–1.27 cm) above the backbone, depending on the side of your fish.   You may need to bend over a little bit to get good angle for your cut. You can place your nondominant thumb on the opening created by your initial cut to peel the skin back and make cutting easier. Use your nondominant hand to peel the flesh open so that the fish’s side is exposed at 35-45 degrees. Use small cuts to slice through any connecting tissue at the base of the fish’s side to fully remove your fillet. Peel the fillet off of the fish’s body and set it aside. Flip the fish over and repeat this process on the opposite side.  You can carve around any bones that you encounter if you’d like. Depending on the fish’s species and size, you may want to do this when you’re preparing to cook though to avoid accidentally removing any flesh. Rotate the fish as you flip it over so that you stay facing the spine. For the second fillet, start at the tail end and cut towards the head. You can peel or cut the thin layer of skin off of your filets if you’d like to, although many recipes require the skin to stay on during cooking.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Remove the head if you don’t plan on using it. Cut through the fish’s spine to create fish steaks. Turn the fish’s spine towards you and cut above the backbone to start a filet. Peel the side of the fish up to cut a fillet out.