To fillet a round-bodied fish, such as this salmon, first remove the head by sliding your knife under the bone near the gills and cutting.
Remove the first side of the body by cutting just above the backbone with a very sharp knife.
Slide the blade along the backbone...
then along the ribs, lifting the meat as you go. Remove the second side of the body in the same fashion.
Lay the fillets on their skin sides and feel down the center for small pin bones. Using tweezers or small pliers, pull these out.
To remove the skin, make a cut between the meat and the skin at the tail end.
Then, with the tail end toward you, grasp the end of the skin and slice between the skin and meat, tilting your knife slightly down toward the skin. Pull the skin as you slice toward the head. This feels like pulling a tablecloth from under a set table. Be careful not to leave behind the flesh or cut through the skin. Then free the meat.

Instructor: Katherine Alford