About Head Flats

[TREVELLY]

I did a post in estuary section and was asked:-

How I fillet my flathead
How I cook my flathead

So I thought put it here:-

Step one catch flathead - I have found that the hardest step but most enjoyable one

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Gut and gill the flathead

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Then I remove the blood line - this is important so it does not flow into the flesh when cutting fillet and contaminate it - these brushes are brilliant for this purpose

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Now cut back the wings or side fins

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Then cut it right across till it meets the backbone

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Then cut the underside of the fish up to the skin top side but do not cut through the skin. You can splay the fish open to see it is clean to the fish skin and no flesh left uncut - important if you do not want the fillet to tear when peeling. Cut both sides of the spine and inspect.

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Start by peeling the fillet from the head end - you can start at the tail end but the fillet is more prone to tear - so i always go from head to tail

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Repeat the fillet peeling to second fillet

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All good and ready to store for a feed when ready.

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Some people want the bones removed - I use two methods:-

Method one with pliers is effective but it does tear the flesh a bit

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Method two is to run your finger along the fillet to locate the bone start and finish as they only run about half way along the fillet. I then cut the tail bit away and then split the remaining fillet lengthwise either side of the bones and you are left with three boneless pieces and the bones to throw away.

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[TREVELLY]

How I cook my flathead

This part is easy as and just what I like

The pieces that have been made boneless

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I use put seasoning on the fillet or mix with the flour

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Put flour in a bag and then add the seasoned fillets

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Shallow fry till golden each side

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Put out onto absorbent paper to soak up excess oil then dish up with favourite veges - I like with steamed veges and Holandaise sauce

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[TREVELLY]

If anyone wants to add their method or tips please do

[alleycat]

I fillet then skin but cut up the fillet into 3 just like you but I batter with 1 cup self raising flour, teaspoon baking powder and whisk in soda water till the correct thickness..

[TREVELLY]

AC that is a method I tend to almost duplicate with SRFlour and just add beer till the right consistency - hard to beat beer battered fish too.
To make the batter stick better I first put the fillet into dry flour then batter.

[astro66]

now im hungry

[lbger]

i was a chef for 12 years and this i think is without doubt the best way to cook fish.. No fancy stuff because the fish is fancy enough nice post mate

[Moby One]

Hi Trev
Great looking fillets. I recently saw something similar but they took the fillet off( with skin) and then removed the skin by sticking your thumb between the flesh and the dorsal fin and then pulled the skin from the flesh( then divided the flesh into 3 like you did)....I think it was in B+B or QFM...very similar.

[tunaticer]

If you can bring home seawater to wash the fillets in. If not then add the salt in the directions below.

I simply use flour with 1/4 teaspoon of salt then shallow fry in macadamia nut oil. Fish does not need any seasoning or flavour extras.

[Horse]

I skin slightly differently. I fillet from the head but leave a few cm at the tail and reverse the knife direction to skin it while holding by the tail and frame.
Flathead are among my favourite fish to eat. I normally cook them in a light beer batter but egg wash and Panko or normal bread crumbs works just as well for me. I always dredge them in seasoned flour first

[WalrusLike]

Thank you Horse for resurrecting this beaut thread. I hadn't seen it before.

I was wondering what the heck I would do when I finally land a fish. Thanks very much for doing such a good job of creating this thread Trev.


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[morphias]

Wow mate - that is elaborate! Good post and concise instructions.

I bleed all of my fish as soon as I catch them and don't bother with gutting or bloodlines - the latter not being an issue due to the bleeding at point of capture. I also scale and leave the skin on most of my fish, including flathead - I love the extra flavour and the skin is good for you.

With flathead, I just run the knife in behind the pec fin/head at about a 30-45 degree angle and then rotate it to flat against the backbone and then just pull it through the whole length in one motion. You need a super sharp knife. Almost no flesh wasted and you just need to do a v-cut to get the pin bones out. This method allows me to fillet a flathead ready-eat in under 2mins.

Ben.

[airlock]

i prefer my method, carefully lat the fish out and begin to fillet, cut finger, swear, cut finger again. give up go to pub.

[fishychrissy]

Nice post here Trevelly, very neat job of cleaning and prepping in the photos.
I add a few cubes of ice to all my batter mixes, it makes a greater temperature difference between the batter and the oil resulting in a good crispy coating on the end product. Use it when battering Prawns, Chicken or Pork too if making Sweet & Sour, or doing a Tempura, same principles apply. I use it all the time and get good results, never fails to deliver.
Cheers
Chris