Trout is tasty and excellent for your health because of its richness in omega 3. You can buy it already prepared by a fishmonger, but if you practice trout fishing, it is essential to know how to empty it yourself, because the trout must be gutted shortly after being killed.
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How to prepare trout before gutting it?
Unlike some fish such as bass, trout do not scale, as their scales are very fine and therefore do not interfere with cutting.
All you have to do is wash it carefully with fresh water and dry it.
If you are bothered by the scales during the operation, just rub the blade on a paper towel to get rid of the excess.
What technique to open a trout and empty it?
The first thing to do when you want to gut a trout is to insert the blade of a knife behind one of the gills, to bring it out the other side.
We then incise downwards.
Then, we attack the ventral part starting from the anal orifice of the trout.
We go up with the tip of the knife or a pair of scissors to the mandibular arch.
This opens the belly of the fish which allows, in a second time, to gut it.
On the other hand, do not press too hard on the blade to avoid touching the viscera.
The gesture must be clear and precise.
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Gutting a trout: the procedure to follow
Once the fish is opened, one can grab the viscera from the side of its tail and pull them up to the head so that everything is eliminated.
The esophagus is cut with scissors.
It is then a matter of removing the gills, the heart, the ovaries and then the swim bladder, and ridding the kidneys of their membrane.
This is made up of blood and could give a bitter taste to the fish.
It is therefore necessary to scrape it with the fingernail or with a small spoon.
What to do once the trout is gutted?
After emptying the trout, it is important to rinse it thoroughly, which allows you to check that everything has been removed correctly.
Care should be taken to remove all rinse water.
We can then prepare the fish to be cut and cooked.
It should however be noted that a fish which has just been caught cannot be cooked immediately, otherwise it tends to crumble.
If you do not want to prepare the trout immediately, it is possible to put it in the refrigerator where it can stay like this for two days.
Otherwise, you can freeze it.
To do this, it is essential to dry it with a paper towel, both inside and outside.
Then, you can wrap it in plastic wrap or in a freezer bag and place it in the freezer.
The shelf life of a frozen trout is three months.
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How to make a thread?
If you want to taste a trout fillet, you have to fillet the trout, that is to say the cutting of its fillets.
Filleting is done just after gutting the fish.
This is no mean feat, as the trout is covered in a gooey substance that makes it difficult to pick up.
It is therefore essential to clean the fish to get rid of this mucus.
We put the fish on its side and lift the pectoral fin to one side.
It is then a question of cutting at this place starting towards the head.
Once the top is clear, you can incise at the back, going from the head to the tail and cutting well along the spine.
It is necessary to incise until you feel the central edge which exerts resistance on the blade.
To release the fillet from this bone, it is important to force to break all the small bones (called "false ribs") that connect it.
We finish by completely detaching the net.
This is done by going along the true ribs and stripping them of the flesh clinging to them.
The real ribs must remain attached to the central bone.
It only remains to cut the second fillet, acting in the same way on the other side of the fish.
