SKINNING A FILLET 

Article and photos courtesy of Helen Rennie & www.beyondsalmon.com 

You’ll need a sharp boning knife (see the picture below) or a utility knife that has a flexible blade (no picture since I don’t own one).

Put your fillet on the cutting board skin side down with the tail end on the left and the head end on the right (or the other way around if you are left handed). If you have a small piece of the fillet that is of equal thickness throughout (like you see in this picture, the orientation of the piece doesn’t really matter. Make a cut to separate a small flap of the skin from the fillet in the left corner that's closest to you (or right corner if you are left handed).

Grab onto that flap, and slide your knife between the skin and fillet pointing the blade of your knife slightly into the board (about a 20 degree angle). This way you'll leave the least amount of fish on the skin.

Slide the knife all the way under the fillet.

Done!

Skinning a fish steak, like swordfish, is even easier. Place the steak on the cutting board, flat side down. Slide a knife between the flesh and the skin and work your way around the steak.

All the recipes on my blog specify whether to use fillet with or without the skin. But in case you are curious, here are some skinning guidelines.

Poaching does not bring out the best in the skin texture. Traditionally, the skin is removed before using this cooking technique, but if you don’t have a boning knife or find the above procedure tricky, the skin will come right off after the fish is cooked. As they say, there is more than one way to skin a fish (or is it a cat?)

If you are browning your fish in the skillet, on the grill, or under the broiler, the skin will turn deliciously crispy, so make sure to keep it on. Some of the fish with great tasting skin are salmon, arctic char, striped bass, black bass, Mediterranean bass, sea bream, red snapper, trout, and bluefish.

An exception to the above rule is dense fish, like swordfish, tuna, marlin, mahi-mahi, and grouper. Their skin is too tough and should be removed no matter how you are cooking them.