Fish Tacos and How to Use a Fillet Knife

This month, Zwilling sent me a fun challenge: use a fillet knife.  June’s knives of the month are boning and fillet knives, so Zwilling sent me their ZWILLING Pro 7″ Fillet Knife to try out. I have never used one before so I was so excited to learn how to use one; gotta love learning a new technique!

Fillet and boning knives are exactly what they sound like: knives used to cut meat off of the bone (to fillet something is to remove it from the bone). The knife is long, thin, and super flexible to allow it to get as close to the bone as possible.

You can fillet anything with a bone — chicken, beef, etc. but most people immediately think of fish, so I decided to revisit an old recipe on my blog to try out this lovely new knife!

This recipe for fish tacos with lime cilantro crema is a Cooking Light recipe and a favorite of mine. I switched it up a touch this time, just to try something a bit new.

Ingredients:

Crema:

• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
• the zest of one lime
• the juice of one lime
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 garlic clove, minced

Tacos:

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon  paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 pounds white fish (I used 3 branzino)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 2 cups shredded cabbage (or romaine lettuce)
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion

When I went to Ippolito’s to pick out my fish, I asked them to gut and clean the fish for me (because I’m a wimp). When I got home, I got to filleting. This is definitely something that gets easier with practice, so excuse the quality of my end result. Each time as you get more comfortable with the knife. you’ll be able to get closer to the bone and get off more meat!

Place the fish on a cutting board, and cut into the skin right before the tail. Cut into (not through) the backbone, then turn the knife perpendicular and slice the knife along the backbone towards the head. Cut the fillet away from the backbone and set aside. Flip the fish over and repeat on the other side of the fish. Repeat with the remaining fish.

To remove the skin, cut down to the skin on the end of one of the fillets. When you hit the skin, turn the knife to slice between the skin and the meat, holding the skin tight as you do so to separate the two more easily.

Not too difficult! Having a super sharp fillet knife very much helps the process go smoothly! Now, it’s time to use my lovely new fillets.

Prepare the crema by combining the green onions, cilantro, mayo, sour cream, lime zest, lime, salt and garlic in a small bowl. Set aside. (You can also make this ahead if you’d like and just refrigerate until ready to use).

Combine the cumin, coriander, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and garlic powder in a small bowl.

Sprinkle the mixture evenly over both sides of the fillets.

Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil. When heated, add the fillets and cook for 3-5 minutes or until the fish becomes flaky, flipping once.

While waiting for the fish to cook, shred the cabbage and chop your onion. Place in separate bowls.

Place fish in another bowl; break into chunky pieces with a fork (this may have already happened in the pan, that’s a-ok). Heat tortillas according to package directions. Divide fish evenly among tortillas; top each with 1/4 cup cabbage, 1 tablespoon chopped red onions, and 1 tablespoon crema.

I am so unnecessarily proud of these tacos because I filleted the fish myself!! Woo hoo!

I have friends who fish, and now that I know this technique, I hope they’ll let me cook them dinner once in a while using their freshly caught fish!