One among, if not my favourite fish to catch and eat out of the Gulf of Mexico is the Scamp (Mycteroperca phenax), one of many extra generally caught grouper species within the Gulf. This species stays a bit smaller than the Gag and Pink groupers on common, often below 20″ in size whenever you discover them. Whereas all of the groupers make for nice desk fare, I’ve discovered that Scamp has a good higher high quality meat that’s a few of the whitest and tastiest you get out of the Gulf. Nicely, my buddy invited me to affix him on a constitution out of Destin with Captain Tyler on the First Light and it was a terrific journey with us catching a half a restrict of Scamp, together with a ton of different fish. So I believed I’d present you the best way to break one among these scrumptious Scamps down.
Breaking it Down on OutdoorHub
Like nearly all of the time we’re beginning with a dressed fish. This implies I gutted out the grouper as quickly as we acquired again to the dock. I left many of the stomach intact simply chopping it open sufficient to take all the heart out. I solely intestine them out this fashion so the fish travels higher once I carry them again house, additionally make certain to bleed your catch as quickly as you carry them up. This ensures the highest quality meat. So like at all times the very first thing we going to do to interrupt down the Scamp is to take the top off. Take your knife and go from behind the pelvic fins up in direction of the again of the top at a diagonal angle. Comply with alongside the collar of the scamp to not waste any meat. Do that to each side of the fish, then you possibly can pull again on the top to pop it off.
When you pop the top off the Scamp put them apart on ice, I’ll present you what to do subsequent time to get one other nice reduce of meat off of the top. Now you might have the top off of the Scamp hint alongside the dorsal fin along with your knife with a shallow reduce first to interrupt the pores and skin and reduce by means of the tail all the best way right down to the bone. After you chop by means of the pores and skin, attempt to preserve your knife as flat as potential to the bones. That manner you are taking as a lot meat as potential off the body. When you angle the knife you may reduce by means of the bones and into the opposite fillet. You wish to really feel your knife scraping over the bones ideally. Preserve eradicating the fillet this fashion until you attain the backbone and ribs.
Nest flip the Scamp over and hint the underside of the fish alongside the anal fin and again towards the tail to interrupt by means of the pores and skin. Then repeat how you chop the highest of the fillet off the body until you attain the backbone once more. Then rigorously begin working the knife over the backbone to elevate the fillet off the bones. Then all you might have left to chop by means of is the ribs and pin bones of the Scamp to take one aspect off the fish. The pin bones sit proper above the ribs sticking straight out to the aspect. Going again to the highest aspect of the Scamp, take your knife and push by means of these near the backbone. After you’re by means of the pin bones comply with the contour of the rib bones with the tip of your knife. That manner you possibly can retain the stomach of the fillet.
The rib bones finish earlier than the underside of the fillet so you chop out earlier than the underside of the stomach. Upon getting the primary aspect of the Scamp off simply repeat the identical steps to take the second aspect off the body. When you don’t wish to cope with going over the rib bones, you possibly can simply reduce by means of them and go away them hooked up to the fillet. For this fashion as a substitute of going again to the highest of the fillet, simply reduce by means of the ribs and pin bones from contained in the physique cavity. Then you possibly can simply trim them off later proper earlier than you pores and skin the fillets.
Now you might have two skin-on fillets, trim out the pin bones, you possibly can really feel them if you happen to run your finger alongside the middle line of the fillet. Minimize round each side of all of them the best way to the pores and skin. When you’ve completed that take your fillet knife and begin on the tail finish of the fillet. Together with your free hand get a great grip on the tail of the fillet. Begin your knife at a tough angle to get right down to the pores and skin, then flatten it out however nonetheless preserve a little bit little bit of downward strain as you push your knife ahead. Go all through and you need to have a pleasant skinless fillet. Now to finish the deboning, seize the little little bit of meat and pin bone that you simply already reduce earlier than and simply pull or reduce it off. And you’re completed with filleting and skinning a Scamp grouper. For anybody questioning why I didn’t scale the grouper, there are two causes. First no level in scaling a fish you’re going to pores and skin, all of the scales will likely be taken off with the pores and skin. Second, the scales really make skinning the fillets simpler, they act as a tough backing to the pores and skin and preserve it more durable. That helps preserve your knife from unintentionally chopping by means of.
