SELECTING AND

PREPARING FISH AND

OTHER MARINE
PRODUCTS FOR
FERMENTATION AND
PICKLING
Jan Ray Galvan
TOPICS
Sorting and Grading
Maintaining the Freshness of Shellfish
​Preparing Fermented or Pickled Fish and Shellfish
A. Preparing wet fish
B. Cleaning and Eviscerating Fish
C. Skinning Fish
D. Cutting Fish
E. Dressing Fish
F. Splitting Fish​
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INTRODUCTION
After harvesting fish, it needs to be sorted and graded
immediately to prevent deterioration or changes in
physical and chemical attributes due to its perishability.

Cleaning is important for two main reasons, 

• the prevention of food poisoning
• the reduction of spoilage.

It not only gives the product a unique flavor and texture,

but it also contributes to increased nutritional value and
better functional properties.
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Bacteria that cause food poisoning are for the

most part transferred to the fish,

• mainly from human beings,

• during processing,
• but occasionally some may be present on the
fish when caught
MAINTAINING THE
FRESHNESS OF
SHELLFISH
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• Avoid the fish from struggling due to the onset of pre-rigor mortis causing
the fish flesh to stiffen at once.

• Do not expose the fish to high temperature.

• Keep them in the shade covered with wet burlaps or banana leaves

• Eviscerate the fish when necessary to prevent autolytic changes because

its viscera or internal organs become the focal points for spoilage

• Put ice while the fish is fresh to inhibit spoiling.

• Preserve them as quickly as possible 7

• Shellfish should be alive until it is cooked and processed.

• Crustaceans like shrimps, crabs and mollusks should be handles properly

and kept alive until cooked.

• For shrimps, they could be preserved immediately with ice to maintain its
freshness.

• Sort or classify the shell fish to prevent contamination leading to spoilage.

 PREPARING
FERMENTED OR
PICKLED FISH AND
SHELLFISH
Presentation title PREPARING WET FISH 9

• most consumers prefer buying fish that are already cut according to their
preferences.

• Fish is prepared in four stages:

•  scaling,
• trimming,
• gutting and, if necessary, filleting.

• Fish is generally scaled before it is gutted, as it is easier to scale if the

belly is slightly rounded.
• take out the intestines and other internal organs of (a fish or other animal)
before cooking it.
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• The tools used are a fish scaler or the back of a knife.

• Most seafood should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145°F.
• If you don't have a food thermometer, there are other ways to determine
whether seafood is done.
• Uncooked spoiled seafood can have
• sour,
• rancid,
• Fishy,
• or ammonia odors.

• These odors become stronger after cooking.

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MARKET FORMS OR CUTS TO PREPARE FISH FOR

PRE-TREATMENT PROCESSES:
• Live fish or whole round-
- transported and marketed alive.
All parts are intact and may be alive
or dead.

• Drawn Fish
fish has been eviscerated or gutted
by making a slit on the ventral side to
remove the viscera or internal organs
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• Dressed Fish
The fish is drawn further to remove
the gills, fins, scales, head, and tail.
This is already prepared for
cooking or for special preparation to
improve the presentation

• Steaks
this a cross section of a fish cut
approximately at right angles to the
backbone or cut from dressed fish
similar to chunks.
FILLETS
- Fleshy or meaty section of a fish removed
from the backbone and ribs of the fish.

- Fillet can be of different styles

- Block Fillet/butterfly
- Cross-cut fillet
- Quarter-cut fillet
- Single fillet
- Sticks-
BLOCK FILLET/BUTTERFLY 14

• The flesh from both

sides of a single fish
usually joined along
the back cut from
dressed fish.

• This is done by
dressing the fish and
splitting after.
CROSS-CUT FILLET 15

• a fillet from flat fish where the flesh from each

side is removed as a single piece
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QUARTER-CUT FILLET-

a fillet from flat fish, the flesh from

each side is cut off in two pieces.
Presentation title SINGLE FILLET- 17

The flesh from one side of the fish

 STICKS-

Sticks- are small elongated chunks of uniform

size and thickness cut from the fleshy portion
of the fish.
CLEANING AND 19

EVISCERATING FISH
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leaning and eviscerating are done by making a slit on
the belly cavity of the fish to remove the gills and
fins.
C
In some cases, scaling is done with the use of a
knife or scaler beginning from the tail toward the
head.

If head and tail are removed, cut off gills with head
followed by cutting the oval fin.

For small fishes, cleaning is done by removing the

head and the gut in one stroke or using the index
finger to nob.
Presentation title SKINNING FISH 21
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Skinning fish involves the removal of the fish skin.

This is done by removing skin along backbone and

cutting off a narrow strip of skin to the entire length
of the backbone.

To do this, loosen the skin from top to bottom then

draw the skin off toward the tail.

Make sure fish is fresh so that skin can easily be

drowned off.
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CUTTING FISH 23

• fishes are cut

depending on the
desired sizes and
manner of cooking or
processing them.

• Consumer’s preference
is always considered.
Presentation title DRESSING FISH 24

Usually, dressing of fish is done by removing the following:

• Fish head
• Tails
• Viscers or internal organs
• Scales
STEPS IN DRESSING FISH:
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1. Weigh the fish. Then wash it with clean water to

remove the slime

2. Lay the fish flat on the cutting board. Holding the

knife on the right hand, and head of the fish with the
left hand. Then scale the fish.

3. Cut the tail and the head of the fish leaving only the
trunk or body of the fish.

4. Cut the dorsal and ventral fins using kitchen scissors.

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5. Remove the internal organ and with the use of a sharp

knife, scrape the belly cavity, blood and false kidney.

6. Wash very well in clean water.

7. Weigh the dressed fish and determine the % left after

dressing by following the formula:
SPLITTING FISH
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1. Weigh the fish (preferably milkfish)

2. Lay the fish on the cutting board with the head

towards the worker and the dorsal side along the edge
of the table. Using a sharp knife, cut on the nape
through the head, keeping the knife hard against the
vertebral column.

3. Turn the knife facing the posterior end or tail portion

and cut towards the tail keeping close to the dorsal
fin until it reaches the tail.
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4. Open out the fish like a butterfly with the use

of knife but do not cut through skin.

5. Remove the ineternal organs, gills, and black

membrane (optional) or peritoneal (black) lining.

6. Clean and split the fish

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THANK YOU
Janray Galvan
galvanjanray061@gmail
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Discuss the procedures in dressing fish

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