Eel isn't perhaps the most common ingredient to work with in the home kitchen, but as with all fish and seafood freshness is key. To ensure ultimate freshness, it always helps if you can buy the fish whole and fillet it at home yourself. Eel is a key component of many Japanese dishes (in particular freshwater eel known as unagi), so if you're planning to grill eel at home being able to fillet it is key.
Endo Kazutoshi is one of the finest Japanese chefs in the UK, and he of course fillets all the eels he works with himself. The steps and instructions below show you how he does it. Having an incredibly sharp knife is vital to clean, neat filleting.
After you've successfully filleted your eel, take a look at Endo's grilled unagi recipe below, or any of our other eel recipes.
Metric
Imperial
- 1 eel, approx. 1kg
Place the eel on a long chopping board with its back facing towards you and (if you have one) nail a spike through the top of the neck into the board to prevent the eel moving around as you fillet it
Slide a small knife into the neck, just behind the gills. Cut down from the top until you reach the spine, ensuring most of the skin around the spine is cut through. Tilt the knife at a 45º angle so the blade is flat against the spine and carefully slice the fillet all the way along to the tail, using the spine as a marker
Pull back the top fillet to expose the spine and guts within
Carefully peel away the guts, then gently release them from the body with a small knife, ensuring not to cut anything open which will spill out and spoil the flesh
Place the guts to one side. There aren’t many uses for eel guts in cooking, so they are generally discarded
Return to the fish. Cut alongside the other side of the spine (which should be the side furthest away from you), staying as close to the bone as possible. Use the top of your knife (so not the sharp edge) to help release the flesh from the bone without cutting into it
Insert your knife between the bottom of the spine and the fish and gently start cutting the spine away from the body, severing it from the head
Leave the spine attached at the tail end of the eel
Begin slicing the top off the fillet nearest to you to trim away the fins. Set the spine and this strip of fin aside – the spine can be used in stocks or soups, but the fin should be discarded
Sever the head from the body and discard or save for stock. You should now have a filleted eel, with the head, spine and guts separated
Wash and clean the eel fillet in cold water
Pat the fillet dry. It is now ready to be used in cooking
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