When it comes to buying and preparing a memorable fish dish there are several mistakes to avoid. But before your delicate fillet even touches a cooking surface consider what kind of fillet you’re working with. You’d be forgiven for thinking the term fillet is a bit self-indulgent—after all it’s just one of a handful of common ways to cut and serve fish. But it turns out there are three primary and very different fillet cuts and you’d do well to know what they are and how they differ.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
 Chef Mike Ward | 2015-02-03 06:09:21 |  1,343,977 Views |
How to fillet a fish
The three types of fillets you’re likely to encounter are whole fillets V-cuts and J-cuts. Each has its own pros and cons and can vary in price and availability depending on the type of fish being filleted. So when you’re buying your fillets to test and serve make sure you choose the type that best suits your dinner plans.
Strictly speaking a fish fillet is simply the side of a fish from which the backbone has been cut away. With this in mind the whole fillet is essentially the starting point for fish fillets. A whole fillet is exactly what it seems: a piece from which only the bare essentials have been removed. This means that you get a piece with the skin still attached – a crucial detail in creating great dishes for both whole fish and fillets. The downside is that the pesky bone is still in this piece of fillet. If you want to remove that you can either debone the fish yourself or simply opt for one of the other fillet pieces.
V-cuts and J-cuts are very similar. Both have the pin bone removed which is a blessing for you but wastes some meat and carries a higher price. The main difference is that the J-cut removes most of the neck of the fish a fattier piece of meat that is located closer to the belly of the fish.
