Removing Skin from Fish Fillet (video)

YouTube Link: Removing Skin from Fish Fillet
More Videos: Helen's Kitchen Channel

Does the fish skin keep you up at night? Here are answers to all your fish skin questions and a video on how to remove it.

Where can I buy a good boning knife?


In which cases should I remove the skin from a raw fillet?

• When serving the fish raw
• On fish with very tough skin (swordfish, tuna, mahi-mahi, etc)
• For recipes that don't crisp up the skin (steaming, poaching, baking) -- in many of those cases, the skin can be removed after cooking, but if the fish is cooked with other ingredients (potatoes, vegetables, sauces, etc), it might be less messy to remove the skin before cooking.

In which cases should I *not* remove the skin from a raw fillet?

• When cooking smaller fish (under 20 Lb or so) with direct heat it's best to keep the skin on.  The skin will turn crispy and delicious and will prevent the fish from falling apart on the grill.  Examples of fish in this category are: salmon, trout, arctic char, striped bass, black bass, red snapper, bluefish, branzino, sardines, mackerel.  Examples of direct heat cooking methods are: pan searing, grilling, pan frying, broiling.
• When poaching fish or roasting it slowly in a very low oven (250F), it's best to keep the skin on and remove it after cooking.  It will insulate the fish from direct heat on the bottom of the pan and make it cook gently and evenly.  In both of those cases, the skin can be easily peeled off after cooking.
• When cooking halibut steaks, it's best to keep the skin on.  It won't be as tasty as a skin on a salmon steak, but it will prevent your halibut from drying out and/or falling apart.  You can easily peel it off after cooking.