SalmonVideo: 04:04

If salmon is going to be cooked with its skin on, it needs scaling first.

Lay the fish on a board and hold onto the tail end using a tea towel or some kitchen roll.
Run a fish scraper along the fish from tail to head going against the scales. Continue until all scales have been removed. Repeat on the other side. Afterwards, the fish is ready for filleting.

Cut into the fish behind the gills down to the backbone. Turn the fish and do the same on the other side. Then, detach the head from the body.
Place a knife directly over the backbone at the front of the fish, angling the blade sharply downwards. Cut along the backbone by sliding the blade through the fish from the front all the way to the tail. Remove the upper fillet.
Now, cut under the exposed backbone and remove the backbone from the fish.
Place the knife over the stomach bones and cut the bones and fat out from the salmon. Now, remove the remaining small bones.

Slide the blade along the back of the fillet, forcing the bones to stand up.
Using a pair of fishbone tongs, pluck the more visible, grippable bones individually from the fish in their direction of growth. Then, check with your finger whether all bones have been removed. Remove large, difficult-to-get bones by making a small cut either side of them.

Skin the salmon by placing the fish skin side down on the board. Cut into the fillet at the tail end and slide the knife along just under the skin, pulling the skin taut so that the knife can pass smoothly through without removing too much flesh.
Holding the fillet with one hand, cut steaks uniformly to the desired size.

Cut the fillet into portions. Then, place the pieces skin side up on a board and hold down. Using a knife, score about 1cm / 0.39inch into the skin. Repeat this until the entire skin has been scored. This ensures that the layer of fat is fried evenly and the skin is nice and crispy.

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