Fish is the staple of Japanese cuisine and the main ingredient in sushi. Therefore, its choice must be approached in detail so as not to spoil the delicious dish. You can buy ready-made fillets right away, but sushi masters advise you to buy whole fish and cut it yourself. Thus, you will save yourself from doubts about the quality and will be confident in the freshness of the original product. And, of course, it is important to be able to cut the fillet into pieces of the correct shape, observing the traditions of Japanese chefs.
It is necessary
-
- Whole fish or fillets;
- sharp knife;
- cutting board.
Instructions
Step 1
Pay attention to the fish's appearance and smell. The fish should be moist, there should be no cuts or dents on the carcass. The scales are glossy and not sticky, the eyes are convex, shiny transparent, and the fins are intact. The smell of a fresh carcass is pleasant, light, and that of a rotten one is sharp and repulsive.
When choosing a fillet, you should also pay attention to its appearance. Sometimes in stores they can sell frozen and thawed fillets under the guise of fresh. It is worth knowing that thawed salmon fillets have a dull and dull color, while fresh ones have a transparent and bright color, the fibers are clearly visible. For frozen tuna, the fresh fillet will have a pleasant transparent pink color.
Step 2
Fillet the whole carcass. Remove scales and giblets from the fish. Take a sharp knife, preferably a special Japanese sushi knife (deba bucho) and cut behind the gills, breaking the ridge, remove the head. Cut off the tail, remove the fins.
Step 3
Lay the fish on its side, insert the tip of the knife into the upper part of the backrest, carefully insert the entire blade in small "sawing" movements parallel to the ridge. Then flip the fish over and do the same on the side of the tail. You have one fillet.
Step 4
Cut the second fillet in the same way. It turned out two fillets and a fish skeleton. This method is called the three-piece method. Flat or very large fish are cut by the five-piece method: into four fillets, two on each side of the ridge.
Step 5
Cut the fillets into pieces. For different types of sushi, the size and shape of the slices is different. Fillet for sashimi is cut into neat rectangular slices. For nigiri, use a sharp diagonal knife to make thin, wide slices. For simple rolls with one filling (hosomaki), the slices are long, narrow and thick, for rolls "inside out" (saimaki) - long, wide and thin. For temaki, the fish is cut into rectangular thick slices, which are then cut diagonally. For guancanmaki (cup sushi), the fillet is cut into small cubes.
