 Scaling and Gutting
Make an incision along the back
1. Hold the fish by the tail, scrape
the blade in short, sharp bursts
against the grain of the scales and
back again, working the knife from
the tail to the head. Rinse the fish.
2. Slit open the belly of the fish with
a knife.
3. Remove the gills and the
intestine. Put the fillet knife where
the gill meets the head a few inches
from the tip of the knife and slice
the joint apart. Wipe fish well, inside
and out, or rinse under running
water if necessary.
 Dressing a Round Fish
1. Scale the fish.
2. Make a cut from the vent forward
into the jaw. Use kitchen shears
from that point forward.
3. Now reach up into the fish and
warp your fingers around the
innards and pull them down and
out.
4. Remove viscera and all black
membranes and blood, particularly
the blood streak running along the
backbone. Cut around pelvic fins
and remove them. Rinse fish well
under cold, running water.
 How to Fillet a Fish
1. Cut off the head behind the gills.
2.
bone from the head to the tail.
3. Working with short strokes and
keeping the knife as flat as possible,
gradually fillet across the bone to
free the fillet, peeling back the fillet
as you go.
4. As you work across the fish, you
will come to the stomach area and
this needs to be cut off and
discarded.
5. Turn the fish and do the other
side.
6. To remove the pin bones, run
your fingers across the fillet, you will
feel the bones that remain.
7. To remove the skin, hold the tail
end and run your knife between the
skin and the flesh in a gentle sawing
motion towards the head, holding
the skin firmly.
 How to Debone Milkfish
1. Trim the fins and tail of the
bangus.
2. Split down the dorsal side of the
fish.
3. Turn knife flat and cut from the
tail to the head by running the edge
of the knife along the backbone.
4. Lay fish open like a butterfly fillet.
Then, remove gills and viscera.
5. Remove the backbone by holding
the knife horizontally and cutting
with the tip of the blade along the
backbone from head to tail.
6. With the aid of a forcep, pull out
the rib bones which not have been
cut away. Make a shallow slit along
the dent of the dorsal muscles and
pull out the intermuscular spines
embedded between the muscles
from the head to tail.
7. Remove spines in the ventral side
in the same manner. Remove
filamentous Y-shaped spines along
the lateral lines, I.e., the junction of
the dorsal and ventral muscles.
8. Wash deboned bangus in clean
water. Drain. Cut in 4-6 slices.
 How to Peel and Devein
shrimp
1. Remove the legs of the shrimp.
2. Gently peel and remove the shell
of the shrimp.
3. Leave the tail on if you want the
shrimp to be broiled or deep-fried.
Remove the tail for other
preparations.
4. Cut down the back of the shrimp
with a paring knife and remove the
vein just below the surface.
5. Make the cut deeper to butterfly
the shrimp.
 How to Clean and Debeard
muscles
1. Place the mussels in a colander or
bowl in the sink and run them under
cold water. Rinse them to get rid of
any debris or seaweed on their
outer shells.
3. If you find any mussels with open
shells, lightly tap that mussel against
the side of the sink. If the mussel
closes up again in response to this
turmoil, it is alive. If it doesn't move,
discard it.
4. Grasp the beard between your
thumb and forfinger and pull it
downwards towards the hinged-end
of the mussel shell. Pull firmly until
it comes out and discard. If you have
trouble gripping the beard with just
your fingers, a dry paper towel can
help.
 How to Clean Squid
1. Rinse the squid off with cold
water. Place a bowl in the sink, and
while holding the squid over the
bowl, grasp the head (which
contains the eyes and tentacles) in
one hand and the body (which is
above the eyes and tentacles, and
has delta wing- type triangular flaps)
in your other hand.
2. Gently twist and pull the head
away from the body. The viscera will
come out of the body. Some black
ink may spill out. The body will now
be an empty tube, and the tentacles
will be attached to the entrails,
which contain the ink sac. The ink
sac is small (about an inch long) and
does not contain much ink per
squid.
3. With a sharp knife, slice the
tentacles from the head just below
the ice. Discard the eyes and head/
and entrails. Remove the beak from
the center of the tentacles.
4. Insert your hand inside the body
tube and remove the cuttlebone,
which looks like a long, thin piece of
clear plastic. Rinse off the body and
tentacles.
5. Now peel the skin off. This is a
quite easy. With your fingernails
pinch the skin and see if it tears
loose. Then pull the skin towards the
back of the body. Also remove the
skin on the fins.
6. The squid meat underneath
should be whitish to lightly yellow.
Discard the skin. Rinse the cleaned
squid inside and outside.
 Removing Lobster Meat
1. Grasp the body of the lobster
firmly in one hand and the claw in
the other. Twist the claw and pull
from the body of the lobster.
2. Twist off all the legs from both
sides of the body. Set legs aside to
clean later.
3. Break the claw into three
sections. Use a mallet or rolling pin
to break the claw or use a lobster
cracker to break it open. Try not to
break into the claw so hard that it
tears the meat inside.
4. Crack and open the claw to
remove the meat. Use a mallet or
rolling pin to break the claw or use a
lobster cracker to break it open. Try
not break into the claw so hard that
it tears the meat inside.
5. Break just enough off the claw to
be able to get a good hold of the
meat. Pull carefully on the meat and
the whole section should come out.
6. Carefully crack and open the
pincer and the lower section of the
claw.
7. Because the lower section and
pincer are smaller, the meat may not
come out as easily. It may have to be
removed in pieces. A lobster pick
may be useful when trying to
remove the meat from the smaller
parts and the legs.
8. To remove the meat from the tail,
begin by placing the lobster right
side up on a cutting board. Holding
the head in one hand, insert the tip
of the knife into the middle of the
body beginning at the seam
between its head and body. Cut all
the way through lengthwise down
its body and through its tail.
9. Turn the lobster around and hold
firmly onto its tail. Finish cutting
lengthwise through the head to cut
entirely in half.

10. Remove the stomach sac and

feather gills from the head and
discard. Find the grayish black
intestinal thread that runs down the
tail and remove it.
11. To remove the meat from the
tail, loosen the meat with fingers
and pull it out in one whole section.
The tail halves can now be grilled or
broiled in the shell or the meat can
be removed and prepared it other
dishes.