Real gourmets highly respect flounder, which is not for nothing called sea chicken. This fish has a very tender and juicy meat, rich in iodine and all sorts of vitamins. Therefore, flounder can rightly be classified as a dietary product. True, experts say that if a few hours after the fish is caught from the sea, it does not cook, that its excellent taste can be forgotten. It is for this reason that flounder is best bought not frozen, but fresh. However, in this case, it will have to be carved independently, which requires certain skills and skills.
Clean flounder
First, flounder should be washed under running cold water, removing the remnants of sand and algae from the surface of the body. Depending on the variety, flounder can be with scales and without. In the first case, using a sharp knife, it must be carefully removed, while not removing from the fish a skin that is sufficiently soft and completely edible. In those species of flounder, which has no scales, the skin, as a rule, is rather rigid and not fit for human consumption. It must be carefully removed before cooking. The exception is a small flounder, with a soft skin, which can be fried without additional cleaning. In order to gently and properly remove the skin without damaging the meat, one should make a small incision along the back of the fish on one side, then pick up the edges of the skin and remove them like a stocking. It is best to remove the tail and fins in advance so that they do not interfere with cleaning.
The head is separated from the trunk of the flounder last. Moreover, for this you should make a V-shaped incision on both sides, then gently remove the head along with the gills and viscera. The fact is that the digestive organs of the flounder are not in the lower part of the body, but in the upper, immediately behind the gills. This, on the one hand, facilitates cleaning of the fish, since there is no need to open its belly, and on the other hand, it creates additional problems. The thing is that the flounder's entrails must be removed carefully, otherwise the likelihood is very high that, due to bile, the taste of the prepared people will be very specific. With a touch of bitterness and algae. To avoid this, the intestines must be removed in one piece. If you immediately cut off the head, then clean the flounder after this is hardly possible.
After the skin has been removed from the fish, and the insides and fins are removed, the carcass must be thoroughly rinsed again under cold running water, then salted and left in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. Then the fish is rinsed again and only after that it is subjected to heat treatment. Pre-salting of flounder is needed in order to minimize the unpleasant smell and taste, which is typical for some varieties of sea fish. After this treatment, it will almost completely disappear. Small carcasses of flounders are not cleared of skin and, as a rule, are roasted whole. However, they are finished in another way. In this case, the head is immediately completely separated from the body, and then the carcass is cut in half along the ridge with a sharp knife. After this procedure, the entrails and bones are carefully removed, and the resulting loin pieces are thoroughly washed with running water, salted, then washed again and fried or baked in the oven. True, it should be borne in mind that in this case it is necessary to salt the flounder for a little longer, about an hour. Remove unpleasant odor and taste, which will certainly be present due to bile, and can be using warm milk, which should be kept fillet flounder for 15-20 minutes.
