Monkfish Fabrication

Monkfish 

This might by far be the ugliest fish in the ocean, a monkfish is a bottom feeder fish that can eat just about everything in the ocean.  When they eat their mouths open twice as wide, as well as their stomachs to consume other fish that are up to two times their size.  The monkfish is related to the sting ray and some sharks. These fish can grow up to 70 pounds, and the younger or smaller the fish the sweeter the meat.  The ones we eat are typically 20-30 pounds.  It's hard to get these fish, especially whole, it's much more common to buy them already filleted.  Known for its huge head and mouth, its tight, meaty white flesh is often compared to lobster meat, it's also known as the poor mans lobster.  It's commonly used in French cuisine, but it has only recently become popular in America.  In taste and texture comparison, it's similar to; snapper, sea bass, halibut, mahi-mahi or sea scallops.  

These fish have no bones only cartilage, making them fairly easy to filet, however it can be dangerous because the fish is so slimy it's easy for a knife or hand to slip. 

The video is multiple clips that I have edited together so I apologize for any missing parts but for the most part everything is there.  If you turn the sound, Chef La Castro talks through what he's doing and why he's doing it, he also gives facts about the monkfish.  

The video could not be uploaded as an HD video, I'm sorry for the poor resolution but I thought this was a very neat demo and I would share it with you anyway, below I will explain what Chef does, in case there is anything you can't make out in the video.

Chef La Castro begins by removing the fish's head and setting it aside.  Next he simply pulls off the silver skin on the fishes body.  Using a filet knife, follow the fish's vertebrae with the tip of your knife and gently pull away from the bone, the more of the vertebrae you can see, the less meat you're wasting.  Follow the vertebrae all the way down, cutting against the bone to separate the meat from the bone.  Repeat on the other side of the vertebrae to remove the other fillet.  Trim any skin that's left on the meat of the filet.  You can then cut the filet into a medallion shaped piece, about 3 oz.

If you have any other questions about the monkfish or filleting a round or flat fish leave them in the comments and I'll be sure to get back to you with the answers!  
I know the video isn't the quality and there's some background noises but  hope you could make out how he fabricated such a neat fish!

Let me know what you want to learn about next week!  Be sure to SHARE MallaryMade on social media and tell a friend to check out this post! I hope everyone has a great week!

From my kitchen to yours,
MallaryMade💗