Quick and Easy Way to Gut Fish
Fish is delicious and nutritious, but if you don’t know how to handle the fishy smell, it can affect the taste. Usually, people use alcohol and vinegar to wash the fish and reduce the smell, but chefs believe it is not necessary. The chefs reveal that there is a string on the fish that causes the fishy smell, but not everyone knows it. Just by removing this string when gutting the fish, the fishy smell will decrease.
First of all, after the fish has been gutted and you bring it home from the market, you need to wash the fish, remove the black membrane inside the belly, and clean off any excess blood to reduce the fishy smell.
After washing the fish, use a knife to make a horizontal cut across the body about 1cm away from the head. At this point, you will see a white thread-like line exposed.
Gently pull it out all the way. Do this on both sides of the fish. This will help reduce the fishy smell. Note that you should not pull too hard, as it may break the thread in the middle. Only use gentle force.
According to the chefs, even though removing this thread reduces the fishy smell, to effectively eliminate the fishy smell, you need to take the following additional steps:
– Remove the scales and slime on the surface: When preparing the fish, after scaling it, you will notice a layer of slime on the fish. If you touch it, the fishy smell will linger on your hands. This is one of the factors that cause the fishy smell. Therefore, after scaling the fish, you need to thoroughly wash off this layer of slime. For some types of fish with a lot of sticky slime like smooth-skinned fish, rubbing with salt is also very effective.
– Remove the fish gills: In addition to removing the black membrane and gutting the fish as mentioned earlier, removing the gill cover also helps reduce the fishy smell. This is the part of the fish’s belly near the head and the back of the fish. This area is also the source of the fishy smell. The internal organs of the fish and a small part of the black membrane are often stuck to this piece of bone, which is not easy to clean. Therefore, you can cut it there with scissors, then scrape it a few times with your fingernail, and then rinse it clean.
– Blood clots between the vertebrae: Fish blood is very fishy, but fish does not have much blood when gutted. The remaining blood usually accumulates in the fish belly and between the large bones. Luckily, you can easily clean this blood. Just rinse it with water and your hands.
The Most Effective Fish Odor Eliminators
Salt and alcohol: Mix salt with water and soak the gutted fish in it for about 10 minutes. Or you can use salt to rub on the fish, then scale it and clean it. Using salt can reduce the stickiness and effectively eliminate the fishy smell. Finally, rinse the fish with water before cooking.
In addition, you can also soak the fish in diluted alcohol for about 15 minutes and then rinse it with clean water. The fishy smell will also be significantly reduced.
Rice water: After cleaning the fish, you can soak it in rice water for about 15-20 minutes, then rinse it with clean water and proceed with cooking. Rice water not only immediately removes the fishy smell but also makes the fish softer and more delicious after cooking.
Lemon and vinegar: Lemon and vinegar are two ingredients that provide high effectiveness in eliminating the fishy smell. Cut the lemon into slices and squeeze the juice onto the fish, let it sit for a few minutes, then cook it. The lemon juice seeping into the fish will make it more fragrant.
This tip not only helps remove the fishy smell but is also very useful for smooth-skinned fish in removing the slimy substance on the skin.
In addition, you can mix vinegar and water in equal proportions, then apply it to the surface of the fish. This tip helps effectively eliminate the fishy smell. After evenly applying vinegar to the fish, fry it, and the fishy smell will completely disappear.
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