Removing the Skin From Pike
and Other Fish
By R. Karl
Many people
have written me to ask if there is a trick to removing the skin from a
northern pike, especially since there is a bit of extra knowledge
required to get rid of those nasty Y-bones. The answer is: not
really.
| Removing the
skin from a Northern Pike - a process not really any different from
removing the skin from a walleye (shown in photos at right), bass or any fish for that matter –
is even easier than removing the y-bones from Pike. Using some sort
of gripper - pliers work well - grab hold of the very tail of the
fillet using your left hand (I'll assume that you are right-handed)
with the rest of the fillet pointed away from you. With your fillet
knife, cut down at an angle
just until you reach the skin
(obviously
being careful not to cut
through
the skin… which is very easy to do). |
 |
|
Keeping pressure
on the back side of the blade, begin to move the knife toward the
other end of the fillet, ensuring that the blade stays at a shallow
angle between the meat and the skin. At this point and with your left
hand, you can actually begin to pull the tail away and in a
direction opposite to the way the knife is moving. |
 |
|
While pulling,
if you move the tail in sort of a horizontal s-curve/back and forth
motion, it makes the task easier. The skin will peel off like it is
hardly attached… and voila, you have a skinless and boneless fillet o'
Pike! |
 |
|
Hope that
helps. It too make take a bit of practice (emphasis on
bit), but far less than
removing the y-bones. Once the skin is off, there are a multitude of
possibilities in terms of the way to prepare your now boneless and
skinless Northern Pike fillet: fried is very good and how most seem to
enjoy it... or you can even try Northern Pike stir-fry, or baked or –
well, you get the idea. |
 |
| But some
time when you get some really fresh Pike - a 3 or 4-pounder works
really well! And contrary to the opinion – and myth actually – that many
mistakenly believe, the bigger the Pike, the whiter the meat… and the
better the flavor. Walleye, by the way, is exactly the opposite.
Those really big 'eyes (over 17-19 inches) are tough and do not have
the almost sweet flavor of the smaller fish. |
 |
Good luck and please
let me know how it goes.
|
Zwilling J.A. Henckels 7-in. Twin Pro S Fillet Knife |
