How to Remove Skins
- 1). Ensure that your meat or fish is cold but not frozen. The cold will help the item's fibers stay together while its skin is being removed. However, with most meats (except chicken), if it is still partially frozen, you may not be able to get the skin off without tearing the meat, which is not ideal.
- 2). Place the fillet skin side down on a cutting board for fish. If it is slippery, site Active Angler recommends rubbing a little coarse sea salt on your fingers.
- 3). Take a sharp knife without a serrated edge and cut between the fillet and the skin in a gentle sawing motion starting at the tail end. As you work, keep the skin pulled tight until you reach the head. The same method can be used (without the salt) to remove chicken skins and the thin membrane that runs along pork tenderloin known as silver skin. According to recipe site DVO, to remove the silver skin from pork, you should keep the knife as close to the muscle as possible, working with the grain of the meat. Because silver skin is attached to the muscle in different areas, some people prefer to take it off in strips.
- 4). Once you have removed your skin, go back over the meat or fish and trim off any lingering pieces of fat. With fish, this is a good opportunity to debone your specimen as well. Keep trimming until you are satisfied, but be careful not to take off too much meat.
Source...