Perch is a very tasty and nutritious fish, but more often there are more problems with cleaning it than with the preparation itself.
The fins, and the scales themselves are very sharp, so inexperienced cleaners very seriously injure their hands. But this can be avoided if you take into account several nuances that are important when cleaning and cutting fish.
So, the main question is how to clean the perch without harming itself, but at the same time efficiently and quickly.
To clean or not to clean
In many cases, cleaning perch is not necessary. Moreover, dishes from such fish are no less tasty than if they had undergone this procedure.
Cases when cleaning is not needed:
• When baking perch on the grill;
• In case of salting and further drying of the fish;
• If the perch fails;
• When fish is used to make soup soup;
• The ended perch does not require cleaning.
In each of these cases, removing the scales is not required, but still some measures are required to eliminate the entrails. For example, for the fish soup and roasting, the entrails and gills are completely removed. If this is not done, then the dish may be bitter or acquire a taste of lake mud. In other cases, the perch is amenable to radial processing, therefore, does not require any measures for cleaning.
Rules for neat and quick cleaning
If the fish needs to be fried or boiled and has an impressive size, then you should clean the fish completely: remove the gills, pull out the entrails, and remove the scales. How to clean perch in these cooking cases correctly, few know, but it is actually very easy.
What rules should be followed so as not to litter the kitchen with scales, do it quickly and not get hurt at the same time:
1. When buying, you should choose the fish as fresh as possible - it is cleaned much easier than frozen several times.
2. Sharp fins are cut off before cleaning the perch. Usually this is done with scissors, but you can cut a fin with its bottom with a knife.
3. Gloves can be worn while removing the scales. It is thus possible to avoid injuries from fins and scales.
4. In order for the scales to be cleaned qualitatively, you need to stretch the vertebra of the fish. Firmly holding the tail, pull the perch by the head.
5. It is necessary to remove the scales correctly: the procedure is performed with a sharp knife, with the tip; the direction of movement is diagonal - from the abdomen to the back and vice versa; The remaining scales are removed with a knife in the direction from the tail to the head.
It is the scales that cause so much trouble during cleaning, so it is often pre-processed in several ways:
• Perch can be filled with salt for 12 hours, then the skin and scales will soften a little.
• The carcass is slightly frozen before cleaning.
• Pour boiling water over the fish or keep it in hot water for several seconds.
• Use special tools for removing scales. You can buy them in a store or make them yourself. A home analog is a beer lid mounted on a stick.
• If you clean the fish in water or under a tap, the scales will not fly around the room.
Cutting Methods
How to clean the perch becomes clear, but how to properly cut it remains a mystery. This must be done so as not to damage the skin and not tear the meat, otherwise the perch dish will have an unaesthetic appearance.
To prepare some dishes from perch, you need to remove the skin from it. This procedure is carried out in several stages:
1. Using a knife, incisions are made along the spine from below and above the carcass;
2. The fins are completely cut out;
3. The skin around the head is separated from the body;
4. The skin is removed from the tail to the head;
5. When the process reaches the head, then it is cut off with a stocking of leather.
Thus, cleaning the scales can be avoided. The head separates well and the insides are easily pulled out.
Removing the insides and separating the fillet from the seeds is also very easy. An abdomen is incised along the vertebra. Using a spoon, you can remove the insides. To get rid of the black film that covers the ribs, you need to clean it with a knife. When the entrails are removed, you can proceed to thinning.
This process is still more often done after the skin is removed from the fish. The fish is laid on a cutting board and pressed tightly with the top of the palm. For thinning, you need a knife with a sharp and wide blade. Starting from the tail and moving to the head, an incision is made along the spine. This happens on the other hand.
When the spine is completely separated, you can begin to remove the small bones that are in the back, as well as the ribs are removed. This is done with tongs. Checking for the presence of seeds is simple - just swipe the surface of the meat with your fingers.
You can cook such a tidbit in a variety of ways and you should not worry at all that a dish or a bone will get into the dish - this is impossible.
