Ever wonder how to remove the throat from a fresh grouper? Well here's how.
First off, fillet the grouper just as you would normally do. I usually cut around the rib cage, leaving the ribs intact on the fish. To me there is just not enough meat on them to justify the damage that it does to my knife. You can get what little meat there is under the ribs by slicing away a neat little "finger" from underneath the top of the ribs.
After you have filleted your fish, lay it on its side and hold the gill plate and gills away from the body. This exposes the tissue connecting the gills to the body. Seperate the gills from the fish by cutting along this fleshy area like so...
After you have done this on both sides of the fish, you'll need to sever the tendon connecting the throat to the lower jaw...
After you have done this, slip the fingers of one hand underneath the front portion of the throat. With your other hand, grasp the lower portion of the jaw. With all your might, pull in opposite directions on both the jaw and the throat. You should see two pieces of cartaliage tear slightly through the skin.
Now that you have the cartaliage exposed, cut underneath it all the way back to about 3-4 inches behind the fins.
At this point, you should be holding a very meaty grouper throat in your hands. You're half way home now. Now you'll need to make a slit in the skin over the entire length of the throat. Be extremely careful while doing this, a nasty cut is only a slip away. You want it to look like this when your done.
Now you'll need to skin the throat. Take a pair skinning pliers or needle nose and simply peel the skin off of the throat using the slit that you made.
After you have skined it, wash the inside of the throat to remove any excess inside fish parts (guts). In my example, I'm using a nozzle with a shower setting and low pressure. DO NOT use high pressure to clean your throats, you'll ruin the meat. I suggest using no nozzle at all unless you have one that has a shower setting on it.
And here's the finished product, ready for the grill or deep frier.
It has a slightly coarser texture then the fillets, but it is very good and greatly increases the yield you get from a grouper. Hope this helps and Bon Appetite.
grouper sandwich