1. Put fish dark skin side up on a board. Using scissors, cut off the fins and tail. Turn over and cut off fins underneath.
2. Put dark skin side up again. With tip of a flexible filleting or boning knife cut around head, down to bone, then cut along backbone from head down to tail.
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3. Angle knife against skeleton underneath, and slice along backbone and outwards, using a gentle, sweeping motion and all the time feeling skeleton against knife.
4. Keep working outwards in this manner until the fillet is removed.
5. Remove the second fillet from other side of the backbone in the same way.
6. Turn fish over, cut around head the same way as before. Cut along backbone down to tail and remove fillet on one side of backbone in same way as before. Repeat to remove the fillet on the other side of the backbone.
7. Finally, trim the edges, the ‘skirt’, off all the fillets to neaten.
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Pro filleting knife, Zwilling J.A. Henckels. White ceramic bistro plate, Sophie Conran. Large FSC certified beech "TV Chef's" board, T&G Woodware. Kitchen scissors, chef's own.
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