Simple Way to Fillet a Skate Fish

Skate is a cartilaginous fish. Since it takes quite a while to mature, with a very slow life cycle, this fish is actually prone to overfishing. Just like in some foods, this one should be consumed in moderation.

As for cooking, there are a lot of fish recipes to try in cooking this fish, and the choice is up to the diner. There are easy and healthy and easy recipes to do that can be done at home with ingredients that can easily be found at the local supermarket. This fish has a very mild flavor, with a very light flavor.

Since it is difficult to skin skate raw, it is best to cook it first before skinning. And here’s how it’s done.

1. First wash off the skate well, these have spines on them at the head, tail, and along the outer sides to protect them. There is a mild toxin in the spines that can make your hand swell up a little if you are “stung” by them, so be careful.
2. Now that you have cleaned off the skate, feel around the wing area to find the bones that hold the wing on.  You want to follow that bone and cut against it to remove the whole wing.
3. Do this for both sides.  The first thing you will notice about doing this breakdown is the amount of waste you will get from one skate; almost 60% of the animal is thrown out.
4. Now that you have two wings you must get the skin off.  In a fish monger’s shop, they would turn the wing upside down to prevent the spines on the outside of the wing to harm them.  Then they would skin the top of the wing upside down, removing the spiny side first. But you may turn the wing upside down to let the spines grip the cutting board so I can skin the bottom first.
5. Once you get the skin off, cut off the outside of the wing to get rid of the spines that are on the outside.  You should wind up with two pieces of meat, but you are not done.  There is a piece of gristle that runs through the center of the wing.  Think of it as a giant pin bone.  You must filet the two pieces of wing off this.
6. You should now have four filets of skate wing.

Now that you know how to fillet a skate fish, you may know try cooking healthy food recipes like baking it with tomatoes and other vegetables for a healthy and delicious treat which can be served at a potluck or a simple dinner with the family.

Source: Garbage fish Breakdown Skate from afterhourswithiggy.wordpress.com