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# I tried filleting a yellowtail (buri)

2024年2月5日 00:57

Introduction

Year-end hobby segment: I'm sharing a report on filleting two whole yellowtails.
Some might wonder, 'You fillet yellowtail as a hobby...?' but you could call it a seasonal tradition lol. For those of you who have been watching my home cooking—which I call food terrorism—for many years,

You're probably thinking, 'Are they doing it again this year... lol'
To you, I say,

Yes, I am doing it!

Yellowtail (Buri) Arrival

I purchased the yellowtail from Yamaichi Suisan (@yamaichisuisann) again this year.
Thank you for the magnificent yellowtail again this year.

My eldest son's excitement went through the roof, to the point where he started dancing (an annual tradition).
He's a huge fish lover and has been excited since I told him I ordered them (as usual).

At Yamaichi Suisan, it's possible to have them do more than just remove the guts and scales—they can even fillet it into three pieces, but...

Since I fillet them myself,
I only requested that they remove the guts and scales when I placed the order.

Honestly, they are such magnificent yellowtails that it's fun to fillet them (true story).

Filleting the Yellowtail (First one)

Even though they are under 5kg, they are large compared to sea bream or mackerel, so I fillet them with the utmost care. Since the yellowtail is packed with fat, there's a risk of cutting my hand with a freshly sharpened knife... concentration is key.

I'm still not used to inserting the knife into the head's joint bones every year.

It's an annual struggle, but I'm still bad at finding the joint in the head and have a hard time with it. This might be the task I'm worst at when filleting fish (personal opinion).
I managed to find the joint relatively quickly this year, so I was able to split it cleanly lol.

I love the sound of the knife hitting the bone the most.

The real work starts after removing the head.
You can tell when you fillet it into halves, but the fat content is incredible...
To use every last bit, I have to make sure I remove the meat cleanly (shivers).

I salt the center bone and boil it with the fish head stock.

I use the fattier parts for deep-fried dishes like fry.
I plan to enjoy the sashimi parts by seasoning them in three different ways.

The bone parts go into the fish stock.
It took me an hour to finish filleting up to this point... I feel my physical strength declining ()

Filleting the Yellowtail (Second one)

Cutting the sashimi parts into fillets (my own method).

Since I want to make fried fish and miso-marinated fish this year, I'm cutting the second yellowtail into larger pieces. I did study how to make fillets beforehand, but...

While I was filleting it, it slipped out of my head (1 loss

W-well... I guess it's fine as long as it tastes good...? (looking into the distance
The fattier parts are suitable for frying, so I'll save those for tomorrow.

By cooking method: Yellowtail dishes (recipes included)

I ate the cut pieces using different cooking methods.
Since introducing them all here would make for quite a long post, I will introduce them in a separate article. (I will add a link after I create it

Sashimi (raw)

Grilled

Simmered fish head and bones

Other

Conclusion

If I include all the yellowtail dishes by cooking method (with recipes),
it will become a very long article, so I will add the #YellowtailDishes link as soon as the article is ready.

Filleting two yellowtails has become an annual tradition, but I'm entering my 40s this year... I want to keep doing my best to fillet them (keep cooking) until my children are adults, so I need to build up my stamina little by little... I don't really like exercising, so it's an eternal challenge ()

Thank you for reading until the end.
Your comments are a great encouragement for my activities.