Flounder - inhabitant of the seabed, one of the few species of fish that live even in the Mariana Trench.
Gourmets consider it a delicacy and are called sea chicken, appreciating for a delicate and slightly sweet taste.
Doctors classify meat as a dietary product. It has few calories and a lot of vitamins, easily digestible protein, minerals, fatty acids. Flounder is recommended to use for those who struggle with excess weight - it will saturate and will not add extra calories. Fish is useful for people experiencing strong physical or intellectual stress, restoring strength after an illness, children and pregnant women.
Despite the advantages of fish, it rarely appears on the table.
The reason - an unusual flat appearance, because of which housewives do not know how to clean flounder. Meanwhile, there is nothing difficult in the procedure.
It is only necessary to carefully study the sequence of actions and follow the scheme. And then the seafood delicacy will often appear on the table.
How to clean flounder: proper defrosting
Experts advise to cook the fish immediately after the capture. The later to start cooking, the less nutrients will remain in the meat. But few housewives go fishing, more often frozen fish is bought for cooking. Therefore, before cooking it is necessary to properly defrost the “catch”. Only in this case, a maximum of vitamins, minerals and other beneficial compounds will remain.
• Natural defrosting will take a long time, so this method is suitable if there is no need to hurry anywhere. Place the carcass in the package in the fridge on the bottom shelf and leave to thaw.
• To speed up the process, flounder put in cold salted water. Dissolve salt in water (for every kilogram of weight - 1 teaspoon) and place fish in it. Hot water can not be used: it will destroy the protein and nutrients, the meat will become flabby, and the taste inexpressive. Rinse the fresh or thawed carcass with water, clean it from sand, mucus, algae residues or salt.
How to clean flounder from scales
Depending on the type of fish, it is with or without scales. In the first case, the plates are peeled off, leaving soft and edible skin. In the second - the skin is removed, because it is too thick, and is not suitable for food. In addition, the skin gives the dishes a characteristic unpleasant taste.
To prevent the plates from scattering around the kitchen during the cleaning process, fish is treated in a bowl of water or wrapped in a plastic bag. To clean the flounder start from the dark side.
Turn the fish head to yourself and, holding a hand, scrape off the scales. When finished, turn the bright side up and clean the surface as well.
How to clean flounder: remove skin
Some types of fish have a specific iodine flavor. To get rid of it and prevent the appearance of an unpleasant smell when cooking, you must remove the skin from the flounder.
1. Turn the fish upside down and its tail toward you. Make a horizontal incision under the skin around the carcass, moving from the tail.
2. Insert the tip of the knife under the skin and cut, separating from the pulp.
3. Put your thumb between the skin and meat and tear off the skin, moving to the head.
4. Firmly holding the fish by the tail, remove the skin.
How to clean flounder: cutting and gutting
In stores, usually prepared carcasses of fish are sold: lacking scales and gutted. But if on the counter is only undivided flounder, do not rush to abandon the purchase. Self-handle fish is not difficult.
• Place the washed carcass with the dark side up, cut the fins and tail with a knife or cooking scissors.
• Head separated last. To do this, make a V-shaped incision on both sides of the fish and then gently separated from the body along with the insides. If you immediately cut off the head, then clean the carcass as it should not work. The fact is that the structure of the flounder is different from the usual species of fish: the organs are immediately under the gills, and not in the lower part. When extracting the peritoneum, proceed carefully, taking care not to damage the gallbladder, so as not to spoil the taste of the future dish. Try to pull the insides in one motion.
How to clean flounder: cooking fillet
For making fillets, it is better to take large-sized specimens The fish is cut with a thin long knife, after removing the skin, or cut it afterwards with the resulting pieces.
1. Put the fish with the dark side up and, trying not to damage, run a longitudinal incision along the ridge from tail to head.
2. Make side cuts along the contour of the fish, sliding the blade along the bones.
3. Insert the tip of the knife into the cut and, making short movements, separating the flesh and sliding the blade along the bones. For convenience, lift the separated flesh with your other hand.
4. Turn the fish on the bright side and perform the manipulations again.
Cleaning and cooking tips for flounder
• Scales are easy to clean while fresh. Therefore, do not delay processing fish.
• If the scales are dried out and removed with difficulty, moisten them with water and leave to lie down for 5 minutes. After that, things will go more fun.
• The skin of a flounder without scales is cleaned with a knife, cutting off protruding bumps, and if the fish is tender, the surface can be treated with a metal sponge for washing dishes.
• To surely get rid of fishy smell, soak the flounder in milk for 20 minutes. The meat will become softer, and the specific “flavor” will disappear.
