How to Fillet Salmon: Tools and Tips for Filleting Salmon

Filleted salmon is a whole salmon that a cook or fishmonger has deboned and gutted to produce two long strips of meat from either side of the fish. You can use these salmon fillets in a range of salmon recipes, and they are suitable for many different cooking methods, like grilling, poaching, slow roasting, and searing. You can also cut whole salmon fillets into individual portions, wrapped in parchment paper, and frozen for easy weeknight meals.

Whether you’re using Coho salmon, sockeye salmon, or Alaskan King salmon, note that the size and thickness of the fillets will vary based on the type you have purchased or caught.

Here are the tools you’ll need to tackle a whole fish:

• A large cutting board: A large cutting board or easy-to-clean non-slip mat helps keep the fish in place while you work.
• A fillet knife: A fillet knife is a long, slightly curved knife that allows you to make clean cuts and prevents sawing motions that could damage the salmon’s organs or flesh. Fillet knives are sturdy but flexible, making them easy to control while separating delicate rib bones from the fillets. Check out Chef Gordon Ramsay’s list of essential kitchen knives.
• A serrated knife: Later in the filleting process, a sharp knife, like a chef’s knife or a serrated kitchen knife, can cut through tougher spots like the backbone.
• Strong tweezers or needle-nose pliers: Pin bones are the small calcified nerve endings that run the length of the fillet. You’ll need a pair of strong tweezers or needle-nose pliers to extract these bones at an angle.

Whether you’ve just been salmon fishing or perusing the cases at your local grocery store, here are some tips to consider when preparing to fillet:

1. 1. Use fresh salmon. When buying a whole fish, buy from a reputable spot and look for the freshest ones you can find. Examine the eyes—they should be clear, not cloudy—and the area around the gills, which should be clean and a deep shade of red.
   
2. 2. Save the collar for stock. Salmon collars are a cut of rich, tender meat from just behind the gills that you can use to make a flavorful fish stock. Remove the collars after trimming the main fillets from behind the pectoral fin and throw them in a pot with water and aromatics to make stock that you can freeze for later.
3. 3. Use a very sharp knife. The sharpness of your knife is of utmost importance when filleting a fish. Neatly separating bones from flesh—without nicking any internal organs in the process that could spoil the meat—is a difficult chore with a dull knife.

Here’s a step-by-step guide for filleting a salmon:

• Rinse and check for any remaining scales. If you’ve purchased your fish from a fishmonger, they will often scale it for you upon request. If they haven’t or there are a few sections remaining, hold the fish in a deep sink (to contain the errant scales) and use the backside of your knife to scrape the shiny scales away from the salmon.
• Run the knife along the belly. Next, place the fish on a cutting board or mat in front of you. Hold the tail steady with your non-dominant hand as you insert the tip of the knife into the vent at the tail end. Run the knife’s blade along the belly toward the head end.
• Make an incision from the top of the fish to the belly. Starting at the top of the fish, make a cut that runs from the backbone, behind the pectoral fin, and meets up with your first cut. Take care not to cut too deeply. Gently flip to the second side of the fish and make a matching cut, from the spine to the belly.
• Remove the head and fins. Use your larger knife to cut through the backbone and remove the head, intestines, front and back kidney, and anal and dorsal fins. Save the head to make stock and dispose of the remaining entrails. You can also make stock from the collar to avoid food waste.
• Carve the first fillet. Insert the tip of the fillet knife along the spine, beginning in the spot where the head was. Using the backbone as guidance, run the knife along the rib cage. Make a vertical cut to separate the fillet from the tail and lift it away.
• Remove the ribs, and carve the second fillet. Use the fillet knife to separate the rib bones from the remaining skin-side down fillet, using your opposite hand to lift the fillet as you go for leverage and visibility.
• Remove the pin bones. Run a finger down the tail-end of the fillets to feel for pin bones. Remove them with needle-nose pliers, pulling firmly and at an angle to prevent tearing up the meat. You can now cook the fillets.
  

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