How To Clean and Fillet Yellowfin Tuna
Captain Kevin Beach of The Mexican Gulf Fishing Company takes you through the steps of filleting a yellowfin tuna after catch. Beginning with a really sharp knife, start cutting under the peck fin. Begin at the bottom fins and cut around and underneath the peck fin all the way towards the eyeball of the yellowfin. Then make a cut on the tail to the spine. For this tail cut, when your knife gets to the finlets on top of the tuna, turn the knife to cut along the spine bones towards the top of the tuna at about a 45-degree angle. Next, cut along the bones on the lateral line, down the yellowfin’s side. Cut deeply, straight down to the tail. Pull out the cut piece. You should have a clean cut along both sides of the bone – side and spine. Now you want to cut the underside of the tuna. Cut straight down the other side of the lateral line down to the tail. On the bottom cut, you want to cut on top of the ribs down to the anus at a 45-degree angle. Once the meat is pulled off the fish, trim off the dark blood line and store in gallong bags, icing immediately.
How To Package and Store Fresh Ahi Tuna
Cut the yellowfin tuna filleted loins in gallon-size-bag chunks with the skin still on. Place skin side down, then meat to meat to prevent the skin from touching the tuna meat. Seal the bag air-tight and get it cold immediately. Layer the cooler with ice, meat, ice and so on. If it will be in the cooler for a while, pull the plug on the cooler to keep water off the tuna steaks in case the bags don’t hold. You don’t want to ruin the ahi tuna by having it sit in fresh water.
How To Clean and Fillet Blackfin Tuna
Filleting a blackfin tuna, which is a smaller species of tuna, is much the same as a yellowfin. Beginning with a really sharp knife, start cutting under the peck fin. Begin at the bottom of the fish and cut around and underneath the peck fin all the way towards the eyeball of the blackfin. Then make a cut on the tail and turn the knife to cut along the spine of the blackfin back towards the head. Then cut along the lateral line of the blackfin, angling your knife at about 45 degrees to slide along the bone. Next, do the same on the underside of the fish, making sure to cut on top of the ribs to avoid the guts. You want to cut down to the anal fins. Pull off each chunk of meat on top and under the fish. You should get four, clean-cut loins from the blackfin.
How To Clean a Yellowfin Tuna | Removing the Bloodline
Once you have your tuna loins cut out of the fish, you want to remove the bloodline. The bloodline is a darker strip of meat that is more fishy tasting and often oily. The thick end of the strip is shallow and gets deeper as it gets thinner down the meat. You don’t want to cut too deep and get the good meat also. You may need to make a few cuts to get it all out.
